The preliminary hearing for a 21-year-old man accused of going on a murderous rampage has been postponed until November.
The suspect, Frederick Gingras, isn’t mentally fit to go on with the court proceedings, according to his lawyer.
“We fear that his state of mind does not allow us to go forward with the preliminary hearing that was supposed to take place this morning,” said his lawyer Kaven Morasse.
Morasse said doctors have recently altered the medication Gingras takes in hopes he will be ready for the hearing in November.
“So what we did is that last week we did contact the Crown attorney in the case and the judge… so that my client undergoes some more treatments in the hope that he gets better,” she said.
Gingras is facing two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder linked to a violent crime spree in the greater Montreal area in December 2016.
Police believe Gingras argued with James Jardin and killed him in his apartment, then ran out into the street.
At around 11p.m. on December 5th, 2016, Gingras allegedly approached 49-year-old Chantal Cyr, who was waiting to pick up her daughter outside a gas station. He is accused of shooting her and stealing car.
Then, he allegedly drove through Pointe-aux-Trembles before crashing the car.
Police believe Gingras then walked up to a residence on Normandie St., rang the doorbell, demanded the person inside hand over his car keys, shot Gerard Lalonde through the door, took the keys and drove off in his car.
Gingras was arrested later that night following a police chase that ended on the South Shore and has been under psychiatric care ever since.
According to his lawyer and family members, Gingras suffers from mental health issues and changes to his medication created new problems prior to the violent crime spree.
