Dayton man who fatally attacked father found incompetent, confined to health care facility

Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Elizabeth Ellis found that Dorsey Brown, 38, was incompetent to stand trial, and that he could not be restored to competency within a year, according to a decision filed Nov. 5.

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

Credit: Montgomery County Jail

She also found that, based on the evidence, Brown did attack his father, 69-year-old Mitchell Brown, and that he has a mental illness subject to court order so will remain under court jurisdiction, court documents said.

The attack

The attack was reported Sept. 18, 2023, at an apartment in the 1900 block of Victoria Avenue.

According to court documents, the father’s on- and off-again girlfriend said that he called her and said “If anything happens to me, call the police.” She said she heard him tell his son not to hit him, then heard him start screaming. She then called 911 on another phone line.

The first officer on the scene said that he found Mitchell Brown in his chair, conscious and able to talk but not really answering questions. The officer said the apartment was “disheveled,” documents said, and a lamp and broken base of a lamp were on the ground.

When asked what happened Dorsey Brown reportedly told police that he was in the apartment “getting wrecked,” court documents said. Police said that when they continued to talk to him, he said that his father was telling him to do things and keeping him from leaving the house, so he hit him with the lamp. He also made rambling statements that did not make sense, the officer said.

Medics took Mitchell Brown to the hospital.

Court documents said that his injuries included broken bones in his ribs and his arm, as well as several lacerations and “dents” on his head. His condition continued to worsen until he died about a month later in October.

Dorsey Brown originally was charged on two counts of felonious assault and one of domestic violence, but was reindicted on two counts of murder after his father died.

What happens next?

As a result of the ruling, Brown will be committed to Summit Behavioral Healthcare in Cincinnati for treatment, court document said.

There will be a mandatory hearing in six months to see whether he is still incompetent to stand trial, and whether he will continue to be hospitalized by court order, documents said.