Monday, March 19, 2007
Tragedy follows landmark court win - L.A. Times
After success in a long fight against forced medication, a schizophrenic man gained freedom. But now he is accused of killing his roommate.
[When the police arrived,] Kanuri Qawi, was waiting casually in the doorway, a glass of soda in his hand. Qawi invited the officer inside and began spinning a wild tale. Intruders, he insisted, had entered his apartment. They had robbed him of $300, then stripped him naked, strapped him to a flatbed truck and paraded him through the streets. As Qawi talked, incense burned, but it could not hide the smell. It was the smell, the officer knew, of decaying flesh.
...
Qawi was a notorious figure in California mental hospitals. His nine-year legal battle had taken him all the way to the state Supreme Court, where he had won the right — for himself and hundreds of other mental patients — to refuse to take the psychiatric drugs prescribed by doctors.
...
Qawi started life as Kenny Washington, an average kid from an unusual family. As if their 14 children weren't enough, Kenny's parents, Alma and Calvin Washington, also took in a host of foster children at their home in Arcadia, Fla. ...
After success in a long fight against forced medication, a schizophrenic man gained freedom. But now he is accused of killing his roommate.
[When the police arrived,] Kanuri Qawi, was waiting casually in the doorway, a glass of soda in his hand. Qawi invited the officer inside and began spinning a wild tale. Intruders, he insisted, had entered his apartment. They had robbed him of $300, then stripped him naked, strapped him to a flatbed truck and paraded him through the streets. As Qawi talked, incense burned, but it could not hide the smell. It was the smell, the officer knew, of decaying flesh.
...
Qawi was a notorious figure in California mental hospitals. His nine-year legal battle had taken him all the way to the state Supreme Court, where he had won the right — for himself and hundreds of other mental patients — to refuse to take the psychiatric drugs prescribed by doctors.
...
Qawi started life as Kenny Washington, an average kid from an unusual family. As if their 14 children weren't enough, Kenny's parents, Alma and Calvin Washington, also took in a host of foster children at their home in Arcadia, Fla. ...
Labels: mental illness, murder
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