KENNEWICK -- A murder trial for a woman accused of killing a pregnant woman and cutting her baby from the womb was put on hold Tuesday because of mental health concerns.
Dan Arnold, defense attorney for Phiengchai Sisouvanh Synhavong, requested an evaluation for his client at Eastern State Hospital.
"I have a good faith belief that competency is an issue," Arnold told Judge Robert Swisher during the brief hearing.
Sisouvanh Synhavong, 24, is charged in Benton County Superior Court with one count of first-degree murder for the June 2008 death of Araceli Camacho Gomez.
Gomez, a 27-year-old Pasco mother of two, was found dead in Columbia Park in Kennewick hours after Sisouvanh Synhavong called 911 saying she had just given birth but thought the baby was dead.
At the hospital, authorities discovered Sisouvanh Synhavong was not the baby's mother.
Her trial was set to start Nov. 1, but now will be on hold until a mental evaluation is completed. Last week, Arnold told the judge that he had concerns with Sisouvanh Synhavong's ability to help prepare for the trial.
Prosecutor Andy Miller said the state is ready to proceed with the scheduled trial and has concerns about the trial date continuing to languish.
Judge Swisher, however, agreed Sisouvanh Synhavong needs to be evaluated and noted that he talked to corrections officers just before the hearing.
"They said the defendant has been acting more bizarre in the last week," he said. "I have my own concerns about competency and that has to be addressed."
Swisher ordered Sisouvanh Synhavong to be sent to Eastern State Hospital for the evaluation rather than have state psychologists evaluate her in the Benton County jail.
A follow-up hearing was set for Nov. 30.
-- Paula Horton: 582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com
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