[Daniel St. Hubert in custody. Photo: Victor J. Blue for NYTimes]
During much of his five years of incarceration for choking his mother with an electrical cord, Daniel St. Hubert was prone to aggressive outbursts and violence, assaulting inmates and correctional workers. It took three years before he was even deemed psychologically fit to stand trial.
After years of mandatory therapy designed to stabilize him, he began to show signs of improvement: In the last six months, he had citations only for minor infractions like keeping a messy cell, officials said. And the last time he was cited for violent conduct was March 29, 2013.
But there was little that New York correction officials could do to ensure that Mr. St. Hubert received the therapy he needed outside the prison walls.
Nevertheless, on May 23, following a standard psychiatric evaluation, he was released.
Once out of prison, he was on his own. If the authorities’ suspicions are borne out, within a matter of days he had come apart, carrying out a bloody rampage through New York City that left at least one person dead — a 6-year-old boy.
The numbers of inmates with mental illness have surged in jails and prisons across the country in recent years, and enormous resources are spent ensuring that they are competent to stand trial and stable while incarcerated. But as Mr. St. Hubert’s case underscores, the process of making sure they are fit to return to the community can be haphazard.
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