OSECOLA COUNTY, Fla. — State Attorney Monique Worrell says the system failed the suspect in a Kissimmee triple homicide, while urging the public not to lose sight of the tragedy and the three lives that were lost.
Investigators say 29-year-old Ahmad Bojeh shot and killed three tourists in what they describe as an unprovoked and random act of violence.
James Puchan, 68, and Douglas Kraft, 68, and Robert Kraft, 70 were identified as the victims.
Court records show that nearly five years before the shooting, Bojeh was found not guilty of an earlier shooting by reason of insanity. At the time, the court determined he did not meet the criteria for involuntary commitment.
According to Worrell the state’s statute for involuntary commitment in cases like these focuses on whether a person is a danger to themselves or others at the time of sentencing, not at the time of the offense.
“You may be thinking, well, obviously they’re a danger to themselves if they committed an aggravated battery with a firearm. But we’re not looking at the time of the offense, we’re looking at the time of this sentencing,” Worrell explained.
Worrell said the system failed not only the three victims, but also Bojeh.
As part of his release in 2022, Bojeh was required to comply with all treatment recommendations from Park Place Behavioral Health and was ordered not to access any firearms. Worrell said those conditions were violated.
“What would you pinpoint as the inadequacy in the system that led to this failure?” asked Channel 9 reporter Sabrina Maggiore.
“Just the way we deal with mental illness altogether. I would have liked to see him be involuntarily committed. If I’m being honest with you, I would’ve liked that to happen. And then stage out to a place where we can say, yes, for certain this person is no longer a danger to themselves or others. But I’ll tell you that the reason that that was found that way is because at that time he was compliant with his medication,” said Worrell.
Worrell said that before the triple homicide, Bojeh’s mental health treatment costs increased by more than 2,000 percent, going from $7 a month to over $150 a month.
“I think that increasing the cost of mental health treatment. Is egregious,” Worrell added, “The individual was no longer in compliance with his treatment because of inability to pay for that treatment.”
She said the loss of compliance was never reported to the 9th judicial circuit court and said any violations should have been reported by Bojeh’s case manager at Park Place Behavioral Health.
Channel 9 called the treatment center to try and understand why that was never reported and what changed with Bojeh’s treatment costs.
A spokesperson for the hospital said that due to privacy concerns, she could not answer questions about Bojeh’s case and directed questions about how state funding flows to individuals in need of treatment to the Department of Children and Families.
Channel 9 contacted the Department of Children and Families to determine whether any changes in state funding may have impacted this case but did not hear back before news time.
Family members of one of the victims also told Channel 9 Thursday they were not ready to speak publicly, but previously said in a joint statement from the victims, “Our families are left with an unexpected, unimaginable loss that cannot be put into words.”
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