Doctor says San Diego man accused in 3 deaths is mentally incompetent

A court-appointed psychiatrist has found a San Diego man mentally incompetent to stand trial on charges of killing two brothers and the fiance of one of the brothers.

The psychiatrist found that Carlo Mercado, 29, suffers from schizophrenia and depression and would not be able to aid in his defense. Defense attorneys say two other psychiatrists have reached the same conclusion.

Mercado is accused of killing Ilona Flint, 22, Salvatore Belvedere, 22, and Gianni Belvedere, 24. Flint was engaged to Gianni Belvedere.

Flint and Salvatore Belvedere were shot while sitting in a car late on Dec. 24, 2013, outside a Mission Valley shopping center in San Diego. The body of Gianni Belvedere, 24, was found Jan. 17 in the trunk of his parked car outside a shopping mall in Riverside.

Prosecutors say ballistics tests and DNA link Mercado to the three deaths.

The prosecution told Superior Court Judge Joseph Brannigan during a Monday hearing that it may request a trial to determine if Mercado is competent to stand trial.

If he is ruled incompetent, Mercado would be sent to a state mental hospital for treatment. If he is later ruled competent, he would be returned to San Diego for trial.

No motive for the killings has been revealed.

But a Police Department criminologist testified during an earlier hearing that a .22-caliber handgun found in Mercado’s car is the same weapon used in all three killings.

Also, police said Mercado’s DNA was found on a can of air-freshener left in the trunk of Gianni Belvedere’s car to mask the smell of his body.

Mercado, who was arrested in June, has pleaded not guilty.

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