A Greenbrier County murder case came to a close after a plea deal on Monday, March 2. Edwood G. Reyes-Cortijo plead “not guilty by reason of mental illness, but guilty to murder in the first degree in regard to the facts” before Greenbrier County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Dent.
Bradley Jerome Morales-Andrades died on March 21, 2017, in Greenbrier Valley Medical Center as a result of stab wounds. In October 2017, Morales-Andrades’s roommate, Reyes-Cortijo, was indicted for his murder. During the proceedings in the Greenbrier County Circuit Court, a number of mental health evaluations were performed on Reyes-Cortijo, leading to a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The Greenbrier County Prosecutor’s office and Reyes-Cortijo, through defense counsel Joshua Edwards, arranged a plea bargain.
“The defendant shall remain under the court’s jurisdiction for the remainder of his life … or until discharged by the court,” reads the plea deal. “The court shall commit the defendant to a mental health facility designated by the department that is the least restrictive environment to manage the defendant and that will allow for the protection of the public.”
The agreement allows for a chief medical officer or “responsible official” of a mental health facility to determine if Reyes-Cortijo “is not mentally ill or does not have significant dangerousness risk factors associated with mental illness,” he could be moved to a “less restrictive environment,” considering the safety of the community and Reyes-Cortijo’s well-being.
Although it is a not-guilty plea, the agreement also settles the facts of the case:
“As a result of this plea the parties shall accept and the court shall make a determination … that [Reyes-Cortijo] could have been found guilty of murder in the first degree,” the plea agreement reads. “The court shall further determine that therefore the defendant could have been sentenced to life in prison.”
The case now proceeds to sentencing, where the terms of the deal will be considered by Dent.
Read more in the Tuesday, March 3, 2020, edition of The West Virginia Daily News.
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