BREAKING: Levi Aron Fit To Stand Trial, Says Court Psychiatrist

At a hearing earlier today in Downtown Brooklyn, Levi Aron, the accused killer of 8-year-old boy Leiby Kletzky, has been deemed competent to stand trial. The decision comes as the result of a psychological exam requested by Aron’s defense team.

Despite the results, defense lawyers Pierre Bazile and Jennifer L. McCann have requested that Aron be kept under psychiatric observation at Bellevue Hospital Center for the defendant’s own safety.

From the Times:

“He understands the nature of the charges and the proceedings and can assist in his defense,” Mr. Bazile said to reporters after the hearing. “It is not a rendering on sanity or insanity.”

Aron reportedly kept silent, with his head tilted downward during the court proceedings.

At Aron’s next hearing, scheduled for October 14, McCann and Bazile say they will ask that the trial be moved.

Bazile told reporters that “the community’s rancor has been riled.”

According to the Times, a young Orthodox Jewish woman approached McCann after the hearing and asked if she had children.

The 30-year-old lawyer declined to answer.