A judge Friday issued a competency finding for a teen accused of killing a retired police chief in a hit-and-run crash, clearing the way for his case to proceed.
Jesus Ayala, 19, and Jzamir Keys, 17, were indicted in 2023 on charges of murder, attempted murder, failing to stop at the scene of a crash, battery, residential burglary, grand larceny of a vehicle and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Ayala is accused of using a stolen vehicle to strike Andreas Probst, 66, as he rode his bicycle near Centennial Parkway, on Aug. 14, 2023. Keys filmed a video of the two teens laughing and planning to hit Probst, who was a retired police chief from Bell, California, police have said.
Ayala appeared in court via videoconferencing for a hearing before District Judge Christy Craig.
Craig said Ayala has been found competent based on the findings of multiple doctors. That means he is considered to be capable to understand the charges he faces and help his attorney in his defense.
“There is not a challenge at this time,” said Chief Deputy Public Defender David Westbrook. “However, I will note for the record that competence is borderline and we’ll bring it back up if we need to.”
Westbrook has said his client has “pretty severe brain damage from several sources.” Ayala was found incompetent in October.
Ayala’s next hearing in the murder case is scheduled for March 11.
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.
