DALLAS — The suspect indicted last March in the breaking in and theft of two monkeys from the Dallas Zoo has been found incompetent to stand trial, court records show.
Court records from Aug. 1 for the suspect, 24-year-old Davion Dwight Irvin, state "defendant found incompetent inpatient treatment." The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure states a person is incompetent to stand trial if they don't have sufficient present ability to consult with their lawyer with a degree of rational understanding and a rational and factual understanding of the proceedings against them.
Upon being found incompetent, the code states the state "may dismiss all charges pending against the defendant." The defendant may also be either released on bail or committed to either a jail-based competency restoration program or a mental health facility.
A grand jury indicted Irvin on two counts of burglary in the break-in and thefts of the monkeys in January. Irvin also faced six misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty in the case, jail records showed.
On Jan. 31, the monkeys were found inside a closet at an abandoned building in Lancaster. A tipster alerted police to the possibility of monkeys being inside the building, which had been the subject of a previous investigation involving exotic animals being kept there.
The monkeys, named Bella and Finn, were found uninjured and were returned home to the zoo.
Two days later, Irvin was arrested after someone reported to police that he was at the Dallas World Aquarium and checking out the mesh enclosures there. Police were wanting to speak with Irvin about the zoo incident after surveillance video showed him near where the monkeys disappeared.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Irvin told police that he took the monkeys from the zoo and then onto a DART train as he fled the area.
Irvin told police at the time that he loves animals and that he would steal more, if he was released from jail, the affidavit said.
The theft of the monkeys capped a tumultuous start to the year for the zoo.
On Jan. 21, an endangered vulture was found dead from a "suspicious" wound, which is under investigation.
The police department was also investigating fencing that appeared to be intentionally cut at the habitats for the clouded leopards and Langur monkeys. One of the clouded leopards, Nova, escaped on Friday, Jan. 13, and was eventually found on the zoo grounds.
Police said they’ve linked Irvin to the cutting of an enclosure for langur monkeys, discovered after Nova went missing, but he hasn’t been charged in that. None of the langur monkeys escaped.