Montgomery Found Competent to Stand Trial

The suspect charged with the Feb. 2 fatal stabbing of 23-year-old transgender woman Deoni Jones as she waited at a Northeast D.C. bus stop has been found competent to stand trial after appearing in D.C. Superior Court for a mental observation hearing this morning, March 23.

Based on two separate mental observation hearings, on March 21 and 23, Judge Robert E. Morin found suspect Gary Niles Montgomery, 55, of Northeast D.C., competent to stand trial, without prejudice, for the crime. Montgomery was arrested Feb. 10 after the Metropolitan Police Department released a video of a man they thought to be Jones's assailant and asked for the public's assistance in identifying the suspect.

Montgomery has been scheduled for a June 22 felony status hearing in Morin's court. He will continue to be held without bond as he awaits trial on a charge of second-degree murder while armed.

Jones, also known as ''JaParker'' and ''Logan,'' was stabbed in the face around 8 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 2, while waiting at a bus stop at the intersection of East Capitol Street NE and Sycamore Road NE, in the city's Benning Heights neighborhood. According to witness accounts, Jones was stabbed following an altercation with her attacker. A third person at the bus stop reportedly chased after the attacker, but ceased pursuit and returned to Jones upon realizing she needed medical attention.

Witnesses flagged down a Metro Transit Police officer, who responded to the scene, finding Jones bleeding and unconscious. Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department's Sixth District, and units from D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services, also responded to the scene. Jones was transported to Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, Md., where she died Feb. 3.

A Feb. 7 vigil in Jones's honor attracted about 200 people to the site where she was attacked.