Trial Stayed for Suspected Killer of Sacramento Police Officer Tara O'Sullivan. Here's Why

A Sacramento Superior Court judge on Friday stayed criminal charges against a man accused of killing a rookie officer five years ago as defense attorneys sought to prove he was mentally incompetent to understand the charges he faces.

The ruling Friday by Judge James Arguelles comes as a weekslong trial, separate from the mental competency issue, was underway to probe Adel Sambrano Ramos' intellectual capacity. The case ended in May, according to court records, and Arguelles has not yet issued a ruling.

Ramos' lawyers sought to prove that the defendant suffered from an intellectual disability, which would disqualify him from the death penalty for the murder of Sacramento police Officer Tara O'Sullivan. Ramos has pleaded not guilty to murder for the death of the 26-year-old man and to the attempted murder of seven other law enforcement officers during a June 19, 2019, standoff in North Sacramento.

But Arguelles said Friday that Ramos, 50, had adequate mental capacity and that prosecutors could continue to seek the death penalty.

The judge also appointed two doctors to evaluate Ramos' mental health, as part of the mental incompetence issue, and expected to have the results by the end of August.

If Ramos is found mentally incompetent, the consequences go far beyond simply avoiding a death sentence. The criminal trial would be suspended until he receives mental health help and doctors determine he is fit to resume court proceedings.

Prosecutor Jeff Hightower objected to the defense’s efforts to assess Ramos’ mental competency “this late in the game.” Since 2019, no medical report has called Ramos’ mental state into question, Hightower said at the hearing attended by Sacramento Police Chief Kathy Lester, several officers and O’Sullivan’s family and supporters.

“Preliminarily, the outlook on this is pretty dire,” he said, while emphasizing that the trial is “ripe and ready to go.”

But Hightower acknowledged that doctors should evaluate Ramos rather than meet with a doctor who finds him incompetent during trial or on appeal. Although Ramos “shows no signs of psychiatric illness,” Hightower said, any future decision on his competency could jeopardize the case.

Defense attorneys seemed unconvinced that Ramos would be declared incompetent after all this time or that such a ruling could circumvent his criminal trial.

“Frankly … we plan to move forward with the trial,” defense attorney Jan Karowsky said when discussing setting trial dates during Friday's brief hearing.

O'Sullivan and Officer Daniel Chipp, who was training her, were called to North Sacramento that summer day to help a woman leave the home she shared with Ramos on Redwood Avenue in the Noralto neighborhood .

The two officers approached the house when a high-powered rifle opened fire from inside the garage, striking O'Sullivan, who had graduated six months earlier from the Sacramento Police Department Academy. The Sacramento State graduate was seriously injured and remained on the ground for nearly an hour before tactical officers were able to rescue her.

Ramos finally surrendered to police after an eight-hour standoff.