Carjacking Case Moves Forward Amidst Competency Concerns

By Thomas Hinton , Ben Dickson - June 13, 2024
Carjacking | Daily Stories | Suspects | Victims |

DC Superior Court Judge Heidi Pasichow asserted that she will need to consider all information before moving forward to either order or deny a full mental competency examination, on June 13. 

Kayla Kenisha Brown, 22, is charged with unarmed carjacking for allegedly stealing a motor vehicle from a woman with the woman’s mother, 55-year-old Leslie Gaines, inside the vehicle on June 3 at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center on the 100 block of Irving Street, NW. 

According to court documents, Brown attempted to make her way away from the scene while holding the car’s keys after crashing the vehicle into the US Attorney’s Office on the 600 block of D Street, NW. After the crash, she was apprehended by a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officer and taken into custody. 

Gaines, who had multiple sclerosis, was taken to a nearby hospital where she eventually passed away from her injuries after being discovered dazed and unresponsive at the scene of the automobile accident, according to court documents.

During the hearing,  defense attorney Silvia Smith argued to move Brown to St. Elizabeths hospital because of her mental health and prison conditions which she called, “atrocious and inhumane.”

Smith alerted the court that she opposed the inconclusive findings of the initial report from the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) because the doctor was not aware of the conditions Brown encountered in the Department of Corrections.

Parties requested further competency evaluation citing mental health concerns. 

Parties are slated to return June 17.