A man accused of stabbing his 71-year-old mother to death inside her Duluth home in September 2014 will return to court today for the first time in nearly two years.
Carmen Emigdio Mosqueda, 39, is scheduled to appear for a review hearing in State District Court in Duluth. He is charged with intentional second-degree murder in the death of Mary Margaret Mosqueda. To date, Mosqueda has made only one court appearance on the charge - his arraignment a few days after his arrest. Proceedings were put on hold at that time, and he has undergone a series of mental health evaluations and was civilly committed to a state hospital. Carmen Mosqueda allegedly called 911 early on Sept. 16, 2014, and asked for police to come to a residence at 810 N. 24th Ave. W. When officers arrived, he allegedly confessed to stabbing his mother with a knife. Mary Mosqueda was found inside and pronounced dead from stab wounds to the chest, neck and head. Mosqueda, who previously had been treated for mental illness and chemical dependency, was found incompetent to stand trial in December 2014 and was committed as "mentally ill and dangerous" to the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter. Doctors this March determined that he had been restored to competency, allowing the case to proceed. However, he has since undergone another evaluation to determine his mental capacity at the time of the alleged killing. Mental health evaluations are considered confidential, so the details of the reports are not publicly available. Courts locally and statewide have seen significant increases in mental health evaluations in recent years. The 6th Judicial District, which includes four counties in Northeastern Minnesota, saw its number of orders for mental health evaluations increase six-fold from 2005 to 2015, according to data provided to the News Tribune by the Minnesota Judicial Branch earlier this year. Mosqueda was one of two Duluth murder defendants from 2014 to undergo prolonged mental health treatment. Jesse Alan Dahlstrom, 37, is accused of randomly stabbing 75-year-old Sally Pionk inside a West Duluth supermarket in December 2014. He faces a premeditated first-degree murder charge, but remains indefinitely committed to the state hospital with no clear resolution in sight. Officials have attributed the jump in mental health evaluations to better recognition of the issues faced by many defendants. "We're recognizing it, we're training for it and we're addressing it," Dan Lew, chief public defender for the 6th Judicial District, said earlier this year. "Every agency, from public defenders to law enforcement, is recognizing mental illness. That level of coordination didn't always happen."A man accused of stabbing his 71-year-old mother to death inside her Duluth home in September 2014 will return to court today for the first time in nearly two years.
Carmen Emigdio Mosqueda, 39, is scheduled to appear for a review hearing in State District Court in Duluth. He is charged with intentional second-degree murder in the death of Mary Margaret Mosqueda.To date, Mosqueda has made only one court appearance on the charge - his arraignment a few days after his arrest. Proceedings were put on hold at that time, and he has undergone a series of mental health evaluations and was civilly committed to a state hospital.Carmen Mosqueda allegedly called 911 early on Sept. 16, 2014, and asked for police to come to a residence at 810 N. 24th Ave. W. When officers arrived, he allegedly confessed to stabbing his mother with a knife. Mary Mosqueda was found inside and pronounced dead from stab wounds to the chest, neck and head.Mosqueda, who previously had been treated for mental illness and chemical dependency, was found incompetent to stand trial in December 2014 and was committed as "mentally ill and dangerous" to the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter.Doctors this March determined that he had been restored to competency, allowing the case to proceed. However, he has since undergone another evaluation to determine his mental capacity at the time of the alleged killing.Mental health evaluations are considered confidential, so the details of the reports are not publicly available.Courts locally and statewide have seen significant increases in mental health evaluations in recent years. The 6th Judicial District, which includes four counties in Northeastern Minnesota, saw its number of orders for mental health evaluations increase six-fold from 2005 to 2015, according to data provided to the News Tribune by the Minnesota Judicial Branch earlier this year.Mosqueda was one of two Duluth murder defendants from 2014 to undergo prolonged mental health treatment.Jesse Alan Dahlstrom, 37, is accused of randomly stabbing 75-year-old Sally Pionk inside a West Duluth supermarket in December 2014. He faces a premeditated first-degree murder charge, but remains indefinitely committed to the state hospital with no clear resolution in sight.Officials have attributed the jump in mental health evaluations to better recognition of the issues faced by many defendants."We're recognizing it, we're training for it and we're addressing it," Dan Lew, chief public defender for the 6th Judicial District, said earlier this year. "Every agency, from public defenders to law enforcement, is recognizing mental illness. That level of coordination didn't always happen."
