A Shelby County court has ordered a mental evaluation for the only adult involved in a female Memphis pastor's brutal July 18 robbery-slay.
The incident occurred outside the victim's house on Whitehaven Lane, earlier reports indicated.
Shelby County Court's Mental Evaluation Order
According to an Action News 5 article, the 20-year-old Eduard Rodriguez Tabora is set to undergo a professional evaluation to determine his state of mind.
Tabora reportedly appeared before a Shelby County judge on Monday, during which the court issued the mental evaluation directive for the suspect.
The news report said Tabora is the lone suspect of legal age charged with Rev. Autura Eason-Williams' murder.
The other two suspects were both minors, a separate report by Action News 5 indicated.
Details of the July 18 Attack
The Aug. 15 report by the same news outlet said that the three suspects attacked Pastor Eason-Williams in her driveway on July 18.
The report said the suspects shot the victim six times before taking off from the crime scene with her Infiniti vehicle.
Authorities later found the pastor's car abandoned a few miles from her house.
The report noted that the late pastor served as the head of Capleville Methodist Church in Memphis.
The article identified the juvenile suspects as Brayan Carillo, 16, and Miguel Andrade, 15.
Charges Against the Suspects
Tabora currently faces multiple charges relevant to his involvement in the crime.
Police have reportedly charged him with aggravated robbery, first-degree murder, firearm deployment during the commission of a dangerous felony, and first-degree murder committing a robbery.
The same report revealed that his two conspirators also face the exact charges.
However, authorities have yet to determine if they would be tried as juveniles or adults.
The article said the minor-age suspects would return to court on Sept. 12 to hear developments about their case.
Juvenile Suspects' Fate Hangs in the Balance
A previously published news report by the WLBT website revealed lawyer Amy Weirich's motion to try suspect Miguel Andrade as an adult instead of a juvenile.
Weirich, the district attorney of Shelby County, argued that Andrade's criminal record makes him a candidate for trial as an adult offender.
The report bared that the 15-year-old Andrade was on parole before the pastor's murder.
"We look to the entire case. We look to the facts. We look to the charge. We look to the age of the offender. And we look to whether or not this offender has ever been in the system before," WLBT quoted Weirich saying.
But her colleague on the other side of the fence vehemently disagreed with Weirich's reasoning.
Steve Mulroy, whom Weirich battled with for the District Attorney election last Aug. 4, countered that transferring a juvenile offender to adult court should be 'the last option and not the first instinct.'
He lamented about the thing being the first instinct, particularly in Shelby County.
Mulroy said many juvenile offenders, many of them colored, are forced out of the juvie system and into adult jails and courts.
Related Article: Shelby County Juvenile Court Starts Evidentiary Hearing on 2 Minors Involved in Memphis Pastor's Robbery-Slay
