The young man charged with murdering a security guard on the UBC Okanagan campus earlier this year will undergo a psychiatric assessment before his trial can proceed.
Dante Ognibene-Hebbourn’s defense said an application to have the 22-year-old’s mental state assessed – for a potential finding of not criminally responsible – was approved Friday in Kelowna provincial court.
“There is substantial evidence to believe that he, at minimum, has to be assessed,” lawyer Grant Gray told CTV News.
The assessment is being conducted at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam.
Ognibene-Hebbourn was charged with a second-degree murder on April 5, weeks after 24-year-old Harmandeep Kaur was killed during an overnight shift at the Kelowna campus on Feb. 26.
The accused was initially apprehended under the Mental Health Act and taken to Kelowna General Hospital before being transferred to the Okanagan Correctional Centre.
Individuals found not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder – which could mean they were unable to understand the consequences of their actions due to mental illness – are not acquitted of the crime, according to the Department of Justice.
Their case is sent to a review board, which determines whether they pose a risk to the public and need to be confined in a psychiatric hospital during treatment – sometimes indefinitely.
The victim in Ognibene-Hebbourn’s case was originally from Punjab, India, but came to Canada in 2015 with a dream to go to university and become a paramedic, according to a GoFundMe campaign set up to help her family.
“Despite the challenges she faced as she tried to make her way in a new country away from her family back home in India, she always kept her positive attitude and determined spirit,” reads a message from her cousin on the fundraiser.
Kaur received her long-awaited permanent residence status in January and was expecting a visit from her parents in April, her cousin said.