Judge rules Simmons incompetent to stand trial

Michael Anthony Simmons

A man accused of shooting to death five members of his family inside their North Charleston mobile home, then sitting on his porch for hours afterward, has been ruled incompetent to stand trial.

Circuit Judge Kristi Harrington ruled this morning that Michael Simmons is mentally incapable of facing the five murder charges against him in the shooting deaths of his wife and her four children in the fall of 2006.

The deaths stunned the community by the scope of the loss. All the children were between 6 and 16 years old.

Simmons did not speak during the hearing. He spent most of the time staring at the ground or shaking his head from side to side.

Prosecutors will now begin civil commitment proceedings to have Simmons placed in a secure psychiatric facility, where he will be held indefinitely, Chief Deputy Solicitor Bruce Durant said. Mental health tests conducted on behalf of prosecutors and the defense concluded that Simmons suffers from dementia, Durant said.

Durant said he was skeptical of the diagnosis, particularly since Simmons' mental illness set in while the suspect was housed in the Charleston County jail awaiting trial in the deaths.

Relatives of Simmons' wife, 39-year-old Detra Rainey, left the courtroom grumbling that justice had not been served. They are convinced Simmons' dementia is all an act designed to help him escape prison.

"He's playing a game, that's all it is," Charles Thompson, Rainey's brother-in-law.

The killings were among the most heinous reported during 2006, a record-setting year for murders in the tri-county area. North Charleston police found all five victims fatally shot in their Ferndale area mobile home on a Saturday afternoon. Investigators think Simmons, 41 at the time of his arrest, shot the family in the early morning. Neighbors reported seeing him sitting on his porch for much of the day, almost until the very moment police arrived. Some said he looked fidgety.

Killed were Rainey and her children William Lee Rainey, 16; Hakiem Rainey, 13; Malachi Robinson, 8; and Samenia Robinson, 6.

The family had lived at the home at 1933 Marson St. for about four months after moving from West Ashley. Police discovered the victims after an unidentified witness tipped authorities off to the bodies, arrest affidavits said. Simmons was arrested as he tried to drive away from the area.