Trial Ordered in Murder of Transgender Philadelphia Woman
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The defense has raised mental health issues as a Strawberry Mansion man is ordered held for trial in the murder and dismemberment of a transgender woman in July of last year.
Police says the defendant gave a detailed, 18-page statement on the horror of this case.
A detective has testified that defendant Charles Sargent admitted stabbing victim Diamond Williams with a knife and screwdriver after realizing the person he picked up for sex was a transgender individual.
Sargent admitted chopping up the body in the basement of the house he shared with his fiancée, and keeping the body parts there for two days before finally dumping them in a neighborhood lot.
The fiancée has testified she went to police even though Sargent had threatened her, telling her, "This is going to be you next -- you and your children."
Defense attorney Michael Farrell says he does not believe his client is mentally competent.
"(I'm) not sure that my client is not sick, rather than bad. Ill, rather than evil," Farrell said after the preliminary hearing.
Farrell says he believes professionals will help him find out what the diagnosis is for the craziness manifest in the facts of this case.
