Memory-challenged Hartselle mom accused of stabbing son seeks mental exam
For the Enquirer
A Hartselle mother previously treated for schizophrenia and accused of stabbing her 8-year-old son to death last year is concerned about her inability to remember and asking for a courtordered mental examination. Jennifer Nicole Long, 42, is charged with capital mur-der and first-degree assault for her alleged actions on March 16, 2023, that left her son dead and her father with stab wounds.
“She is very concerned about her inability to recall the events,” Long’s defense attorney, John Brinkley, said in a court petition filed June 25. “Counsel has spoken with the accused in the local jail on numerous occasions and Defen dant is unaware of all the events leading up to this cause of action.” Before the alleged crime, Long had recently begun staying at the permanent residence of her parents and her son at 94 Colony Lane, according to investigator testimony at her preliminary hearing.
The father told deputies in a statement that he was watching TV on the first floor of the house while his grandson slept in the master bedroom upstairs when, at about at 5:30 a.m., Long came down the stairs. He asked if she was OK and she went upstairs again, after which he heard a scream.
He then went upstairs, according to his statement, and she attacked him with a knife. He fended her off and, while he tried to find his cellphone downstairs to call for help, “she came from the kitchen and had two or three more knives in her hand and came swinging at me again.” They fought in the downstairs bathroom, according to the father’s statement, and he left the house to get help from a neighbor. When deputies arrived, he directed them to check on his grandson, who was still in the Colony Lane house with Long. The boy was dead on a bed in the master bedroom when deputies found him, with a deep stab wound to his chest, according to testimony. Long’s father was treated at Huntsville Hospital for multiple stab wounds.
Long is “indigent and without funds to pay for a psychiatric examination,” according to her petition for such an exam to evaluate her mental state at the time of the alleged offense and her competency to waive Miranda rights and stand trial.
In addition to her inability to recall the events, Brinkley wrote that there are other reasons to believe Long is suffering from a mental disease or defect, such as her history of medical treatment for “schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder.” “The defendant’s family has been unavailable to discuss Defendant Long’s family history and Defendant’s behavior over the years prior to the event in question and believes additional testing and diagnosis would assist in the effective defense of Jennifer Long,” the petition reads.
In conjunction with the petition, Brinkley also filed a notice of a jury demand should the court schedule a competency hearing. According to the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure, the circuit judge determines whether a defendant is competent to stand trial at such a hearing unless the defendant files a written demand for a jury. At the hearing, the defendant may present evidence and witnesses.
Circuit Judge Jennifer Howell on June 27 found that reasonable grounds exist to question Long’s competency and ordered a mental exam to be performed by the Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.
