A Connecticut man who spent three years in a psychiatric facility following his arrest in a Yonkers homicide has been deemed mentally competent to proceed to trial.
Claismar Abreu-Then, 30, appeared in Westchester County Court Wednesday, where state Supreme Court Justice Larry Schwartz accepted a doctor's recommendation that Abreu-Then's competency to proceed be restored.
Abreu-Then was arrested at his Hartford home four days after the Jan. 17, 2021, fatal shooting of Joseph Pichardo, a 24-year-old new father who was shot multiple times in the first-floor hallway of 54 Fairview St.
The arrest was the result of a joint investigation by Yonkers detectives and the FBI and Hartford police and the gun believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered in Abreu-Then's home.
Police said at the time that the two men knew each other and the shooting was a result of a disagreement between them.
Abreu-Then was indicted on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in May 2021 but the case ground to a halt in September after the defense sought a psychiatric evaluation and Abreu-Then was deemed unfit to proceed.
Abreu-Then had been held at the Central New York Psychiatric Center but will now be transfered back to the Westchester County jail.
A dozen of the victim's relatives were in court Wednesday. Afterwards his sister, Luz Maria Pichardo, said the long wait was frustrating for the family but they were gratified the case will now proceed as they pursue justice for her brother.
"There are no words to describe the pain we still feel and that pain is never going to go away," she said. "It's shocking that this individual was a friend of his and this still happened."
She said her brother was happy and joyful, always helping people.
"He was reliable, responsible and just starting a family," she said. "It's so sad he couldn't provide further love for that child."
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