Briann Lindsey
The city woman accused of murdering her boyfriend inside their Brookville Commons apartment has a history of mental health issues and has been placed on suicide watch at the county jail.
Briann Lindsey, 25, has been held at the Mercer County Correction Center since Tuesday on charges she fatally stabbed 35-year-old Christopher Johnson about 4:15 p.m. Monday.
Lindsey’s attorney, public defender Nicole Carlo, at a detention hearing on Thursday revealed her client’s history of mental illness and the fact that her client has been placed on suicide watch at the county lockup.
Prosecutors have filed a motion seeking to keep Lindsey incarcerated without bail pending final resolution of the case. The state, however, asked for more time to build its case and provide the defense with “discovery” evidence in the case, so the detention hearing that began Thursday has been effectively postponed to resume at 1:30 p.m. next Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw.
During her court appearance on Thursday, Lindsey sat in her seat at the defense table with her head down during the entire proceeding, which was uneventful aside from the revelations of Lindsey’s history with mental illness.
Carlo argued for her client to be provided with an immediate mental health evaluation, saying her client had been denied her right to mental health treatment.
Judge Warshaw agreed that Lindsey needed to be evaluated by mental health experts and said he was “confident” that the Mercer County Correction Center would be responsive in assessing Lindsey’s needs.
Mercer County Assistant Prosecutor Stacey Geurds at Thursday’s hearing said Lindsey would be evaluated later that day by the Capital Health crisis team.
Lindsey is accused of fatally stabbing her beau in the kitchen area of their Brookville Commons apartment in Trenton’s Island neighborhood in the West Ward. Lindsey tried to clean up the crime scene prior to police arrival, prosecutors allege.