Matt White's wife unstable, lawyer says

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MEDIA, Pa., Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The wife of former Penn basketball star Matt White, who was stabbed to death, may not be mentally competent to stand trial for his killing, her lawyer said.

Maria Reyes Garcia-Pellon, 52, is accused of stabbing her husband to death with a knife as he slept Monday in their Nether Providence, Pa., home.

White was a member of the 1979 Penn team that reached the NCAA Final Four. After being drafted by the NBA Portland Trail Blazers, he played basketball in Europe for 12 years.

Kathryn Labrum, Garcia-Pellon's attorney, said Wednesday her client is "so far separated from reality."

Authorities said Garcia-Pellon told them after the incident she was upset her husband was viewing pornography, possibly involving juveniles, on a home computer.

Labrum said White took his wife to a local hospital after friends expressed concern about her mental issues, adding she was given medication but was refused admission.

"She was having a psychiatric crisis," Labrum said. "He knew that she needed help [and] tried to get her help."

Garcia-Pellon is a native of Spain who met White while he was playing in Europe, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Thursday. She is being held without bail in the Delaware County jail and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 25.