PORT ANGELES — Shay C. Darrow was acutely psychotic when he allegedly shot and killed his father more than two years ago, a state forensic evaluation said.
Darrow, 30, met the criteria for schizoaffective disorder when he allegedly shot Clint Darrow to death in their shared Port Angeles residence on Jan. 12, 2017, psychiatrist Barry Ward of the Office of Forensic Evaluation Services wrote in a report.
“It is my opinion that at the time of the alleged offense, Mr. Darrow was acutely psychotic,” Ward wrote in a March 15 sanity evaluation for the state Department of Social and Health Services.
“However, I did not find data to suggest that Mr. Darrow was impaired in the manner contemplated by Washington’s narrowly drawn sanity statue.”
A review hearing was reset on Friday for May 3.
Darrow is charged with first-degree murder with domestic violence for the death of 53-year-old Clint Darrow, who owned Van Goes Gourmet Pizza & Mexican in Port Angeles.
Darrow is in the Clallam County jail on $500,000 bail. He is the longest-serving inmate on the jail roster.
Defense attorney John Hayden has said his client intends to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.
Port Angeles police said Shay Darrow had stopped taking his medication for schizoaffective disorder before he fired 29 rounds at his father with a semi-automatic .45-caliber pistol.
Shay Darrow was originally found not competent to stand trial. Multiple forensic reports found that he lacked the capacity to understand the nature of the charge against him and to assist in his own defense.
After spending most of 2017 in competency restoration at Western State Hospital, Shay Darrow was deemed competent to stand trial because his schizoaffective disorder was in partial remission.
Darrow has waived his right to a speedy trial numerous times over the past 27 months to allow for various mental health evaluations and subsequent reports.
He signed Friday a 60-day waiver of speedy trial that will expire July 11.
“We’ve just been kind of in a limbo in regard to speedy,” Michele Devlin, Clallam County chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney, told Superior Court Judge Lauren Erickson on Friday.
“The reason is we have to make a decision based upon the reports that we have received from Western State Hospital, and the reports received from defense’s expert, on how we’re going to proceed with Mr. Darrow.”
In a later interview, Hayden said the parties are “working towards a resolution.”
“I can’t speak for anybody else, but I hope we get there,” Hayden said.
“With any luck, we’ll be able to get to a place where we can get this resolved appropriately and in the best interest of the community and everyone involved.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@ peninsuladailynews.com.