ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County judge has found a 19-year-old man charged with the beating death of a Pine Hills man not competent to stand trial.
Victor Wriden is accused of killing 67-year-old Esteban Calderon in his home in 2012.
Investigators said Wriden, along with two other teens, barged into Calderon's home and beat him to death and then stole electronics.
Investigators said Wriden was the one who savagely beat Calderon with a concrete paver, even after Calderon lost consciousness.
The group dropped a television in Calderon's yard as they were leaving and fingerprints on the TV led to arrests in the case, according to investigators.
Days before his trial was set to begin last year, Wriden suddenly claimed he had degenerated into a state of incompetency.
The Calderons didn't buy the excuse then, and they didn’t buy it Wednesday.
"We know a thug when we see one," said Calderon's brother, James Calderon. "This guy needs to be off the streets permanently, as quickly as possible. Granted, he's behind bars now, but the possibility that he could escape from a mental institution is very disheartening to us."
On Thursday, Orange County Circuit Judge Tim Shea found Wriden to be incompetent based on two defense experts' determinations. The state wanted those experts to hear some of Wriden's jail calls, which it believes show he's faking.
But Wriden will now go to a state hospital for evaluation and treatment if deemed necessary.
Shea said he was making the decision in order to prevent the possibility of having to try Wriden twice.
"They're not stupid. That's their intelligence," James Calderon said, following the hearing. "He's been incarcerated for a while now. He has exposure to other inmates who are going through the same thing he is and they're farther along. He gets advice from these inmates."
Wriden's co-defendants, Ronald Edouard and Luner Axcius, admit they ran into Calderon's house after Wriden had beaten him and helped him steal two TVs and a DVD player. They took plea deals two years ago for 15-year sentences in exchange for their testimony against Wriden.
Wriden was 16 at the time of the murder and is facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.
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