PHOENIX — The relatives of an accused murderer are questioning the controversial release from the state’s psychiatric hospital.
On Monday, lawmakers and the nephews of Rodney Aviles spoke to the press following the release of their uncle on July 20th.
Aviles was arrested and charged with the murder of his mother Mauricia Aviles and his 7-year-old niece Alea in June 1999, but he never went to trial because the court found him incompetent and not restorable on two different occasions.
The family told ABC15 during an interview in 1999 that Aviles committed the alleged crimes just hours after being released from a psychiatric facility.
Aviles has been in the Arizona State Hospital for most of the past 24 years. On three occasions, he was released and then quickly civilly committed back to the hospital, according to a lawyer for Aviles' relatives.
The ABC15 Investigators first reported earlier this month that the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office tried to prosecute Aviles three times, but he was found incompetent and not restorable in 1999, 2006, and 2010.
Through court records obtained by the ABC15 Investigators, we found that the Arizona Department of Health Services wrote to Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell in February about the release of Aviles.
“We do not dispute that in 1999 Mr. Aviles caused the death of members of his family,” Michael Sheldon, CEO of Arizona’s State Hospital and Deputy Director of ADHS, wrote. “Nor do we dispute that he was found incompetent and not restorable.”
Sheldon emphasized in the letter that Aviles is under a Title 36 order for treatment, which means he is a civilly committed patient receiving treatment and should be "under the least restrictive means."
The letter from Sheldon states that Aviles knows what his medicines are and their intended purpose, adding “he’s not voiced any ideation, intent or plans to harm himself or anybody else at any time. Nothing he has said has come across this threatening."
A 2021 court filing objecting to Aviles' release shows how in 2017, a doctor stated that Aviles "has no insight into the fact of his illness and insists he does not really need medication."
Court documents also show that a doctor wrote in a 2019 report, "...at the present time, the patient is expected to need inpatient care for the duration of his life barring a medical breakthrough."
State Senator Anthony Kern told reporters on Monday that the public is at risk because the public does not know where he was released, or what he looks like. “We do not know where he is. He could be living in your neighborhood. He could be living in my neighborhood. He could be living next to the family that suffered this horrendous tragedy,” said Senator Kern, “Only the courts know where he's at, and the public fiduciary from what I was told.”
The nephews of Aviles stood next to lawmakers as their mother was too scared to show her face, “my mother can't speak today because she just doesn't want to be seen and you know, with everything because she is afraid for her life with what is going on,” the 21-year-old said.
Senator Kern also called on Attorney General Kris Mayes and Governor Katie Hobbs to do something about the release, “she oversees the Department of Health Services, which oversees ASH, department directors can make a decision,” he added.
The release of Aviles is raising concerns about the laws around people who are committed by a civil court order, “there needs to be a working group or subcommittee brought together to study this issue, because there is, as you say, a chasm in between somebody who is deemed incompetent to stand trial, and somebody who is actually safe to be in the community,” said Maricopa County Attorney Mitchell.
A spokesperson for Governor Hobbs said in a statement, “No re-evaluation could have been done, the patient’s release was mandated by a court order. Governor Hobbs remains fully committed to keeping Arizonans safe, guaranteeing public safety, and finding solutions to improve ASH operations.”
The ABC15 Investigators asked the Arizona State Hospital earlier this month why the community is not notified of a release like this.
“Notifying the public of release would be in violation of federal and state patient confidentiality rules,” Sheldon said by email.
