The man accused of killing two people and wounding two others in a random stabbing spree on the 16th Street mall a year ago is too mentally ill to be prosecuted for his crimes at this point in time, a Denver judge determined Friday.
Elijah Caudill, 25, is mentally incompetent to proceed, Judge Karen Brody ruled during a brief hearing Friday. The criminal case against Caudill will be put on hold while he undergoes treatment aimed at restoring him to competency at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo.
Caudill is accused of stabbing four strangers along the 16th Street mall on Jan. 11 and 12, 2025, in four separate attacks: three back-to-back stabbings in the span of 42 minutes on Jan. 11, and then a fourth attack on Jan. 12.
Two people, 71-year-old Celinda Levno and 34-year-old Nicholas Burkett, were killed. Two additional victims were wounded but survived.
Prosecutors with the Denver District Attorney’s Office did not challenge the finding that Caudill was incompetent to proceed. He will undergo 91 days of treatment before returning to court for an update on May 1.
16th Street Mall stabbing suspect’s path marked by mental illness, homelessness, drug use
Caudill’s arrest in the 16th Street mall stabbings came after years of homelessness, illegal drug use, escalating violence, jail, prison and severe mental illness, a Denver Post investigation found. He said he heard voices in his head that told him to “do bad things,” and was connected to resources and help several times before the fatal attacks.
In court Friday, a handcuffed Caudill swayed on his feet and fidgeted during the hearing, swinging his head.
The competency process is designed to protect the constitutional rights of people who are mentally ill or developmentally disabled by ensuring they are not prosecuted for crimes when they are too sick or too disabled to understand the court process and to help defend themselves.
A competency evaluation centers on two prongs: whether defendants have a factual and rational understanding of the court proceedings, and whether defendants can consult with their attorneys and assist in their own defense. Defendants who cannot meet those thresholds are considered mentally incompetent to proceed and must undergo treatment to be restored to competency before their criminal cases can proceed.
Defendants who ultimately cannot be restored to competency cannot be prosecuted, and they cannot be held in jail. Such defendants must be released or civilly committed.
“We are in a hold mode, we have a mental health stay in the case, I think we need to just see what happens with the treatment,” Brody said in court Friday.
The restoration process can take months or years, and can stall cases indefinitely.
The attacker in the 2015 Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood mass shooting was found incompetent to proceed for a decade, and was never convicted in the attack. He died in a medical center for federal prisoners in November.
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