Zaki Ahmad Qayoumi
HAMILTON — A Hamilton County man who was found not guilty by reason of insanity earlier this month in connection with a double fatal crash in Fairfield will not be hospitalized for treatment of his mental illness, but will receive five years of monitoring.
Zaki Ahmad Qayoumi, 27, of Springfield Twp., was in court Monday morning, Sept. 27, when Butler County Common Pleas Judge Michael Sage handed down his decision.
Qayoumi is alleged to have been reckless and driving at an excessive speed at 1:09 a.m. May 21 at South Gilmore and Mack roads when he crashed into a car driven by Michael C. Willis, 57, of Fairfield, killing him and his passenger, Theresa Nicole Cardish, 20, of Norwood.
According to court documents, Qayoumi told an officer at the scene he needed to perform heart surgery and had to get to the hospital. He is not a physician. When the officer asked Qayoumi how the accident occurred, he said it was like a typhoon, according to police.
Qayoumi was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and in 2008 began having visual hallucinations, mania and anxiety. In the days before the crash, friends and family said Qayoumi’s mental state had deteriorated, according to court documents.
Dr. Kenneth Gruenfeld, a forensic psychologist, said during Monday’s commitment hearing that inpatient hospitalization of Qayoumi is not recommended at this time.
Qayoumi’s doctor, Dr. Geroge Broderick, a psychiatrist, termed his patient as “highly motivated, a college graduate. Very intelligent young man.”
But Broderick said Qayoumi is mentally ill and had been treated for several years with anti-psychotic drugs.
Judge Sage stated Qayoumi should be placed in the care of a forensic monitoring center and be subject to conditional release after a treatment plan is in place.
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