Judge: Healdsburg dad suspected of drowning 4-year-old daughter mentally unfit for trial

A Healdsburg man charged with drowning his 4-year-old daughter in a baptismal pool was found incompetent to stand trial and will be placed in a mental hospital for treatment, a judge said Monday.

Gerardo Ordaz, 42, appeared briefly before Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Arthur Wick after a psychologist indicated he was not capable of assisting in his own defense.

Wick ordered criminal proceedings against Ordaz to remain suspended while an agency determines his placement, most likely at Napa State Hospital.

He could remain there up to three years while his competency is restored.

Ordaz, who in previous appearances sobbed and yelled out in court, seemed more composed on Monday. He answered “yes” when the judge asked if he was taking prescribed medications and would continue to take them voluntarily.

He returns Jan. 11. for a ruling to determine where he will be treated.

Ordaz was arrested Nov. 20 outside the Healdsburg Police Department after he arrived naked, holding the lifeless body of his 4-year-old daughter, Maria Jose Ordaz Chavarria. His 9-year-old son stood nearby.

Police believe Ordaz held the girl under a few feet of water at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church as the son watched.

Investigators have not rule out the possibility that Ordaz was attempting an exorcism on the child.

He was booked and charged with murder. He remains in custody without bail.

After Ordaz’s lawyer raised a doubt about ?his competence, the court’s psychologist examined him and agreed he may ?not understand the charges against him or the nature of the court process. A second doctor assigned by Wick to do a more thorough review reached the same conclusion.

Prosecutors did not seek a third opinion.

Now, correctional officials will place Ordaz in a mental health facility. He will receive treatment until he is deemed competent and be brought back to face trial.

Once he’s returned, a judge could find him not guilty by reason of insanity and send him back to a mental institution indefinitely.

At some point, he could be released if it is proven that his sanity is restored and he is no longer a danger.

In Sonoma County, ?a number of criminal ?defendants are sent away each year, for competence and insanity issues.

Many remain for decades but some are released.

That happened most recently in the case of former Rohnert Park resident Mathew Beck, 42, who was freed from Napa State Hospital about 10 years after he stabbed to death his uncle’s fiancee and her mother in 2000.

He was never tried after prosecutors agreed he was insane at the time of the killing.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 707-568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.