WASHINGTON (TND) — A University of North Carolina graduate student accused of killing his academic advisor in August will be sent to a mental health facility, according to a judge.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Alyson Grine said Monday that two separate mental evaluations found Tailei Qi, 34, likely suffers from untreated schizophrenia.
“Qi demonstrated delusional thinking, experienced auditory hallucinations, engaged in self-harm in the detention center, showed fragmented thought processes that impeded his communication,” she said.
He is accused of killing Dr. Zijie Yan inside a campus laboratory on Aug. 28. Yan led a research group that Qi was in and was an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, according to reports.
Qi is being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder and misdemeanor possession of a firearm on educational property.
Grine added that Qi’s severe mental illness has rendered him unable to comprehend his situation, assist in his legal defense and understand court proceedings, even when a Mandarin interpreter is present.
She ruled that Qi would be committed to Central Regional Hospital in Butner for psychological treatment. Doctors will be required to notify the Orange County district attorney if his condition improves.
When police responded to the campus in August, Qi was not at the building but was arrested without force off campus less than two hours later.
Two weeks later, police received a 911 call that someone showed a weapon in the student union.
Mickel Deonte Harris was arrested and charged with assault-point gun, according to jail records.
An autopsy released earlier this month showed that Yan had been shot multiple times in his office in Caudill Labs. Police found nine 9mm cartridge casings scattered around his office, but they have not recovered the handgun used in the shooting. Prosecutors and police have not said how Qi — who was in the United States on a student visa and would not have qualified to purchase a firearm legally — obtained the gun.
Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.