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WARREN -- The man suspected in the double fatal fire in Warren Township was pink-slipped by a Trumbull County jail doctor and will now undergo a competency evaluation.
According to the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office, a motion filed Tuesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court by attorney Ross Smith requests that his client, Carroll Bruton, 73, be evaluated for his competency to stand trial after an undisclosed incident at the Trumbull County jail caused him to be pink-slipped by a jail doctor.
To be pink-slipped means that Bruton is being held for mental evaluation.
Bruton will be quarantined before meeting with a classification officer who will determine which pod in the county jail he will be housed.
According to a Trumbull County Sheriff's Office records employee, Bruton also will be evaluated by Coleman Health Services, a mental health servicer in the jail. If he also is pink-slipped by Coleman, Bruton will be sent to Heartland Behavioral Healthcare in Massillon.
Bruton was arraigned last week after being named on a special grand jury report charging him with two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated arson and two counts of arson.
The charges are related to the house fire that killed Roscoe Toles, 82, and Etianne Whitaker, 51, inside their Mill Street SW home on Jan. 7.
During his arraignment, Bruton pleaded not guilty but was cautioned by Judge Ronald J. Rice several times for interrupting during the hearing for fear Bruton may incriminate himself.
But Bruton still asked the judge for the chance to speak.
"I'd like your opinion on this," Bruton said. "If I said the plea of not guilty, I feel is a good thing ... but it's incomplete. I would like to go with not guilty by reason of they were going to try to kill two witnesses."
Rice again advised the man to speak to his legal counsel instead of speaking during the hearing.
Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow requested that Bruton be held in the county jail without bond. His grant was requested.
"There have been suggestions of additional physical harm to other family members, including potentially burning another house down or burning other people," Morrow said.
Morrow told the court he believes Bruton represents a "serious risk to the public if released on bond."
The prosecutor also confirmed that Bruton does have mental health issues.