A 23-year-old Lebanese care worker accused of killing a 91-year-old woman at a nursing home in Chemnitz is due to appear before a court later this month in proceedings aimed at determining whether he should be held in a psychiatric hospital.
The case concerns the violent death of an elderly resident at the Haus Steinbachhof nursing home on Jan. 18. According to prosecutors, the suspect, identified by Tag24 as Mouemen A., is alleged to have attacked the woman around midday and strangled her with her own clothing.
MDR reported that the Chemnitz public prosecutor’s office has confirmed the accused is considered not criminally responsible because of a mental illness at the time of the alleged offense. The finding means the case will not proceed as a standard criminal trial, but as preventive detention proceedings. He therefore will not spend time in prison.
Prosecutors said the aim is to place the accused in a psychiatric hospital. They argue this is necessary because, due to his condition, there is a risk he could commit further serious unlawful acts.
The suspect is reportedly being held at St. Georg Clinic in Leipzig rather than in prison. He is understood to have been diagnosed with a form of schizophrenia.
Senior Public Prosecutor Ingrid Burghart confirmed that the suspect has made no statement about the alleged crime. Some German media outlets are reporting that the victim was strangled with her own pajamas, while others say that her swimsuit was used as a ligature.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at Chemnitz Regional Court on June 18 and behind closed doors.
