Ramsire incompetent to stand trial

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March 16, 2013

Ramsire incompetent to stand trial

By BRAD KELLAR Herald-Banner Staff The Herald-Banner Sat Mar 16, 2013, 12:27 AM CDT

GREENVILLE — A local man, charged with allegedly sexually assaulting a Greenville teenager who later was found murdered, has been found incompetent to stand trial.

The attorney for Terry Dwayne Ramsire was seeking to suppress statements Ramsire allegedly made to law enforcement officials last year due to questions over Ramsire’s mental competency.

During a hearing Thursday in the 354th District Court, Judge Richard A Beacom issued an agreed judgment as to Ramsire’s incompetency and ordered him committed to a mental health facility, “for future examination and treatment toward specific objective of the Defendant attaining competency to stand trial.”

The judgment indicated that neither the prosecution nor the defense had sought a trial to determine competency and did not oppose the ruling.

Beacom ordered a mental examination for Ramsire in January.

Ramsire, 50, received two indictments from the Hunt County grand jury in September 2012; one for aggravated sexual assault of a child and another for indecency with a child by sexual contact, alleging he sexually assaulted Alicia Chanta Moore on multiple occasions during July 2012. Ramsire has pleaded not guilty.

Ramsire was arrested on the charges on Aug. 23, 2012 and has remained in custody at the Hunt County Jail since that time in lieu of a total of $70,000 bond.

Defense attorney Carol Day Gustin argued the statements Ramsire made to an investigator with the Greenville Police Department following his arrest should be suppressed as evidence.

“Specifically, Terry Ramsire has limited intelligence, a mental defect and/or mental illness that was significant enough to prevent him from understanding his warnings and his rights, thus rendering his confession inadmissible,” Gustin said.

Moore, 16, was last seen on the afternoon of Nov. 2, 2012 getting off of a school bus at the intersection of Bourland and Walnut Streets in Greenville, a short distance from her home.

Her body was found four days later along FM 47 in Van Zandt County and the Greenville Police Department has joined with multiple other agencies in conducting a homicide investigation in the case.

The $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Moore’s death.

Anyone with information concerning the case is being asked to contact Hunt County Crime Stoppers at 903-457-2929. You will remain confidential.