Test Ordered in Fatal Stabbing
Sharon K. Hendrix, the transient accused of fatally stabbing a Hermosa Beach woman as she sat in her patio, will undergo psychiatric evaluation and a court hearing to determine whether she is competent to stand trial for murder.
Hendrix, 29, is accused of killing Gillian Mary Cooper, 40, as Cooper sat in front of her home on the Strand, chatting with her mother.
Police said Hendrix used several aliases, including Jody Foster, and rambled incoherently after the stabbing. Hendrix said she had been abused as a child and that she “had to” stab Cooper, police said.
Hendrix is being held without bail. If she is judged competent to understand and assist in her own defense, she will return to South Bay Municipal Court for a preliminary hearing. If she is judged incompetent, she will be committed to a state mental hospital until she is competent to stand trial.
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