A Clark County judge has ordered a mental health evaluation for a Camas woman accused of the hit-and-run death of a 65-year-old man who was using a walker to cross Mill Plain Boulevard in October.
Jessica B. VanWechel, 30, was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday on charges of hit-and-run death and vehicular homicide. She allegedly was sending text messages when her vehicle struck and killed Stephen D. Dewey, 65, of Vancouver, then fled the scene without seeking help for the man.
The arraignment was postponed when her court-appointed attorney, Louis Byrd Jr., requested that she have a mental competency evaluation.
“There have been some issues at the jail with (her on) a suicide watch, so I want to be cautious,” Byrd said in court Thursday.
Superior Court Judge Barbara Johnson scheduled an April 17 hearing to review the results of the competency evaluation.
Johnson ordered a stay on the legal proceedings in the case until the evaluation is completed and reviewed by the court.
The evaluation will determine whether VanWechel is mentally fit to assist in her defense. It doesn’t address all mental health issues. The evaluation will be conducted at the Clark County Jail, rather than at a mental hospital, Byrd said.
Since her arrest Feb. 26, VanWechel has been in jail in lieu of $75,000 bail.
The incident occurred about 7 p.m. Oct. 28. Dewey was using a walker to cross Mill Plain Boulevard at Southeast 105th Avenue when a powder blue Toyota Paseo struck him in a crosswalk, then sped away, according to the court affidavit.
The traffic signal for east-west traffic on Mill Plain had turned green while Dewey was still in the crosswalk, the affidavit says.
Dewey was transported to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where he died about a week later from blunt trauma to the head.
Prosecutors allege VanWechel later confided to a friend that she had looked down to send a text when her car struck Dewey, and that she fled the scene because she didn’t have insurance.
Police detectives found fresh paint chips and headlight lens fragments at the scene that matched VanWechel’s vehicle, the affidavit says. Her car also had lens damage, the affidavit says.
She was arrested after Vancouver police issued a bulletin Feb. 26 asking local officers to look out for a damaged powder blue Toyota.
About 9:50 p.m., a Camas police officer spotted the vehicle, stopped it and arrested VanWechel.
