CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 7 (UPI) -- An Iraq war veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder killed his girlfriend because he thought she was part of a "hostile military force," his lawyer said.
Davon Londell Thomas, 29, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday in the fatal shooting of his girlfriend in November 2009, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported.
"At the time of the offense, Davon Thomas was in a delusional state and believed that a terrorist attack on the people of the United States of America had commenced and that the deceased was a member of a hostile military force whom he was obliged to kill," defense attorney Jean Lawson wrote in a document filed in Mecklenburg Superior Court.
Tigist Yemane, 23, was shot several times at Thomas' Charlotte home, police said. She had come to Charlotte from Ethiopia for treatment of a heart defect, the Observer said.
After questioning Thomas, Superior Court Judge Yvonne Mims Evans ruled he was competent to stand trial.
Thomas faces charges of first-degree murder, for which he could receive life in prison without parole, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Thomas' mother told the Observer she saw her son fatally shoot Yemane.
"That was the most traumatic thing anybody could see. That beautiful young girl. I loved and cared about her," said the mother, who asked that her name not be used.
She said efforts to get mental health help for her son from the Veterans Administration and the military had failed and he was delusional the day of the killing.
"He was back in Iraq," she said. "He thought she was a terrorist suicide bomber."
