Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images.
Virginia state senator Creigh Deeds’ condition was upgraded to “good” earlier today, according to a University of Virginia Hospital Center spokesperson, after he was stabbed multiple times by his son in an apparent attempted murder-suicide yesterday.
There are still many unanswered questions and police are investigating why Deeds’ 24-year-old son, Austin “Gus” Deeds, allegedly attacked his father—stabbing him several times in the head and upper torso—before shooting himself. More information on Gus Deeds’ mental health is becoming available and may shed some light as to why he allegedly committed this horrific crime. The Richmond Times-Dispatch first reported that he had a mental-health evaluation on Monday, under an emergency custody order. The Post reports:
On Monday, a magistrate issued an emergency custody order for Austin Deeds, who was also known as Gus, after he had been evaluated by officials at the Rockbridge County Community Services Board, said Mary Ann Bergeron, the executive director of the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards. The boards oversee the local provision of mental-health services across Virginia.
However, he was released because there were reportedly no psychiatric beds available across the western Virginia area. Now, new information suggests that there were, indeed beds available at Western State Hospital in Staunton, Va., about an hour East of Bath County:
News that Western State Hospital, about an hour from Bath, did have space for the younger Deeds is sure to bring new scrutiny on the state’s mental-health system. An official with the hospital confirmed Wednesday that the facility had been in a position to accept Deeds’s son but was never asked to.
“We were not contacted,” said John Beghtol, director of community services for the hospital. “We had beds and we were not called.”
Police are still investigating a motive for Gus Deeds’ alleged attack, and are expected to provide press with an update on the investigation later this afternoon.
