GOP lawmakers have slammed the “outrageous” decision to release a Connecticut man from a maximum-security psychiatric hospital after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity of killing a victim with a hatchet and eating their body parts.
Tyree Smith was ordered to be confined to Whiting Forensic Hospital for 60 years in 2013 in connection with the killing of Angel Gonzalez, whose mutilated body was found in a vacant apartment in Bridgeport in January 2012, a month after he was hacked to death. Smith’s cousin had testified that he told her he ate part of Gonzalez’s brain and an eyeball while drinking sake.
During a hearing Friday before the state’s Psychiatric Security Review Board, Gonzalez’s sister-in-law, Talitha Frazier, said she was concerned Smith was now hiding his mental illness.
“How do we really know he’s not going to do this again?” she asked.
GOP lawmakers Heather Somers, Paul Cicarella, Henri Martin, and Stephen Harding called the decision “mind-boggling” in a statement.
“This terrible decision puts public safety in jeopardy and is yet another terrible message to send to CT violent crime victims and their families. This person should never be out,” they added.
Despite opposition, the board granted Smith condition release after hearing from a psychiatrist, who said Smith’s schizophrenia and alcohol and drug disorders were in full remission as a result of medication and other treatment.
A conditional release means Smith will be placed in a community setting but under supervision with strict conditions, including continuing treatment. Smith has already been staying full-time at a community facility with around-the-clock supervision for the past nine months, and Friday’s decision formally discharged him from the hospital, officials said.
Smith attended the hearing virtually with his lawyer, but was not shown on video screens because of safety concerns stemming from media coverage, his lawyer said.
