LOCKPORT – On Friday morning, Niagara County Court Judge Caroline Wojtazsek declared that a local man accused of murdering his sister was deemed unfit to stand trial.
According to prosecutor Doreen Hoffman, David B. Fermoile, 64, will be taken to a mental health facility in Rochester and will not appear in court again until he is deemed competent.
Dr. Elizabeth Botzer and Dr. Melissa Heffler were the two mental health professionals that independently evaluated Fermoile and came to the same judgment that he was incompetent.
Fermoile was arrested on June 7 after being discovered in the same house with a deceased female, later identified as his sister, Dianne M. Fermoile-McAvoy, 68, of Lockport.
He was then charged with second-degree murder and was committed to the Niagara County Correctional Facility without bail.
Deputies from the local sheriff’s department initially responded to the home for a welfare check requested by a visiting nurse, but were unable to contact the individual at the residence.
Fermoile-McAvoy didn’t live there, but Fermoile and their 98-year-old mother did. Deputies arrived and discovered Fermoile-McAvoy deceased on the floor with multiple head and face injuries. Her mother was discovered uninjured.
The news of Fermoile-McAvoy’s death surprised her friends.
John Kowalski, one of her Continental Drive neighbors, described Fermoile-McAvoy as a friendly and active person who was frequently seen walking in her area.
“She would constantly be walking, riding a bicycle or walking with her daughter,” Kowalski said. “They would always wave and stop to talk.”
Jim McGrath, a longtime friend and former colleague of Fermoile-McAvoy’s husband, said she was one of the most positive people he knew.
“She was probably the most friendly person you’d ever meet. She always had a smile,” McGrath said.
Fermoile did not believe he was incompetent, according to Fermoile’s lawyer, public defender Joseph Catalano, but after consulting with him, Catalano chose not to pursue hearings in the case. Prosecutors Hoffman and Peter Wydysh declined to call a hearing as well.
“It’s a tragedy,” Wydysh said after the arraignment. “All around.”
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