Minn. judge says man unfit for trial, cites energy drink testimony

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A judge says a Minnesota man accused of killing three family members with a wrench is mentally incompetent to stand trial, citing testimony from doctors about his mental illness intensified by his consumption of energy drinks.

David Ekers is charged with three counts of second-degree murder in last year’s attack in a Minneapolis suburb that killed his sister, mother and grandmother.

The ruling last week by Judge Lisa K. Janzen says evidence of the negative effect of energy drinks on Ekers’ schizophrenia dates back to at least 2017.

During one hospitalization in 2018, the judge says his "psychotic symptoms appeared worsened with the ingestion of large amounts of energy drinks."