The gunman accused of shooting and killing two women at a Titusville hospital Sunday was awaiting a court-ordered mental evaluation, Channel 9 learned.
It’s at least the fifth time David Owens was ordered to get help in the last 10 years.
In 2013, two months after an administrator at a treatment facility recommended involuntary in-patient care for Owens, he himself requested to be admitted to its crisis unit.
It was the eighth time he or his family had sought help.
In 2016, three years after he requested to be in the crisis unit, a judge ordered another mental health evaluation for Owens.
It’s not clear how long he was treated between 2013 and 2016.
That exam was still pending when he shot and killed two people at Parrish Medical Center.
“For the people that lost their life, I hurt for them and their family,” said Owens' mother.
His distraught mother, who asked not to be identified, said she tried for years to get long-term care for her mentally ill son.
Court documents said that she believed her son was “out of control” and that he was off his medications.
She claimed he talked of killing and that she felt her life, and those of others, was in danger, saying, “I don’t know when he will lose it and kill up a lot of people.”
She begged he be sent to a mental hospital.
“If the laws are not there, then no judge can say, ‘Let's force him to take his meds,’” said former chief judge and current WFTV legal analyst Belvin Perry.
Perry, who also served on Orange County’s Youth Mental Health Commission, believes there needs to be a comprehensive review of state law.
Perry said people need avenues of help much sooner than a court-mandated examination.
He cited a lack of funding as a huge hurdle, and until something changes, he predicts more tragic scenes.
“We really need to evaluate the laws to make sure we protect the patients’ rights, get them help and protect society,” said Perry.
Perry also said, like in other states, state-funded case managers should monitor the treatment of those taking medication for mental illness.
Due to Florida’s lack of funding, the state cases aren’t tracked.