28 August 2023
VIRGINIA A man has been found incompetent to stand trial for shooting and critically injuring his brother last month.
Robert James Cope, 30, was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation after being arraigned on a number of serious charges, including attempted murder and assault, in the allegedly unprovoked July 8 shooting that left Steven Alan Cope, 28, with life-threatening injuries.
Judge Robert Friday suspended criminal proceedings Monday upon the recommendation of a court-appointed psychologist, who determined Cope lacks the capacity to understand the process and participate in his own defense.
Cope, who remains at the St. Louis County Jail on $750,000 bail, did not attend the Zoom hearing. Friday indicated he was informed the defendant was refusing to appear.
St. Louis County prosecutor Chris Florey and defense attorney Todd Deal did not have any objections to the report, nor did either request a second evaluation. A civil commitment process is expected to commence in the near future to direct treatment for Cope.
The mental health evaluation is not public, but court records indicate Cope had a history of mental illness and was taking medication at the time of the shooting. He also had a history of assault and making threats of violence, and was participating in the Range Mental Health Court program as a condition of probation.
The shooting was reported on the 600 block of Ninth Street South in Virginia, where both brothers were living with their parents. As their father called 911, Robert Cope was still on the scene and attempting to hug Steven Cope, according to a criminal complaint.
Virginia police officers arrived within one minute, and Robert complied with their orders to leave the house. The complaint states that Steven was found unresponsive and bleeding on the floor of an upstairs bedroom; a Ruger 9mm handgun and spent cartridge casing were found in the hallway.
The victim was taken to Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, where doctors indicated the bullet had impacted his cerebellum, the back part of the brain that controls balance and other motor functions, according to the complaint.
The suspect also was taken to a hospital for observation and was allegedly heard by officers making statements about the shooting.
“After I went in the bathroom, I came out and then all of a sudden I had a gun,” he allegedly said, before adding: “I came out of the bathroom and when I came to, I had a gun coming back from the firing of what happened.”
The complaint states that Cope also made a spontaneous comment while being transported to jail: “I woke up from a dream and was told to shoot my brother.”
The siblings’ mother indicated there did not appear to be anything out of the ordinary prior to the shooting, telling investigators she had seen Robert go upstairs and then suddenly heard the shot.
Search warrants indicate there were several firearms in the house and that everyone except Robert had permits to carry. Investigators wrote that the gun used in the shooting belonged to Steven, and the parents were unsure how Robert got access to it as their firearms are typically locked in safes.
Steven Cope was said to be on a ventilator in the intensive care unit when charges were filed days after the shooting. Authorities have not provided any update on his condition.
Robert Cope has four prior felony convictions since 2015 three for threats of violence and one for domestic assault and he was to remain on supervised probation through September 2024.
His most recent offense, in May 2020, involved threatening a group of teenagers with a knife after a contentious basketball game at a Virginia park. He also threatened to stab two people with a hunting-style knife in 2018 and assaulted his girlfriend by hitting, choking and biting her in 2015, according to court records.
Cope most recently was spared a two-year prison term in favor of three years of probation, with conditions including participation in the mental health court, which attempts to connect offenders with treatment and other resources while providing intensive community supervision.
In the pending case, Cope is charged with six felonies: attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, two counts of second-degree assault, domestic assault and possession of a firearm by a felon.
There is no definitive timeline on the resumption of the case, as it will remain on hold until treatment professionals and the court determine he is restored to competency. Florey has already filed notice that he intends to resume prosecution when that occurs, preventing the case from being automatically dismissed.
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