Man accused of fatal 2019 stabbing found mentally competent to stand trial

MILWAUKEE COUNTY (CBS58) -- Amando Lang, charged with first-degree intentional homicide in 2019, has agreed that he is now competent to stand trial. This comes after he was declared incompetent by a doctor 6 years ago. On Tuesday, July 22, Lang told Judge David Swanson that he agreed with the new doctor's report that he's competent to stand trial for a murder he allegedly committed six years ago.

"Mr. Lang has put in a lot of work as far as his mental health treatment to get to the place that he is today," shared Lang's defense attorney, Sylvan Jaspen.

Lang is accused of murdering 49-year-old Ben Christianson on Aug. 27, 2019, slashing his throat in a random and deadly attack. Lang has since been living in various facilities, helping him work through his mental health issues.

"I know the attorneys working on this case, especially Ms. Jaspen, are aware of how difficult it is to get a care team in place for an individual who has had mental health issues in the past. And it's especially difficult to get a successful team in place, and this is clearly a successful team," said Judge Swanson.

Lang had been in a mental health institute until the fall of 2023, when he was transferred to a different locked facility in Franklin, though he was let out from May to June of this year, in what's been described as a mistake.

His mother ended up calling 911 for his mental health crisis. This situation raised serious concern from the community, who didn't know he was out in the first place:

"I think it’s a fair, fair choice today to stay in a place he’s being monitored and hopefully it can give the victim's family peace of mind because that was probably the biggest thing weighing on them, this man was out there walking freely doing what happened in 2019" said Milwaukee county Supervisor Kathleen Vincent, who has been present at several of Lang's court proceedings.

A new doctor's report was ordered, finding Lang is now competent. Since Lang has agreed, the first-degree homicide case can now move forward.

While the state asked for a $200,000 bail, the judge sided with the defense, allowing Lang to stay where he's been the past few years as he doesn't feel Lang is a threat to the community: "I agree completely, that taking him in custody would very likely, in this case, almost certainly, lead to a significant decompensation in his condition, which would then lead to his return to a status of not being competent, which would simply set the clock back several years and put us back where we were when this case first arose."

Lang will be back in court on Aug.18 to meet with a doctor, determining if he was competent at the time of the murder. That doctor's report will be returned on Aug. 26.