Shooting suspect's attorney plans mental-defect defense

The attorney for a Nassau correction officer accused of murdering her ex-girlfriend and uncle and holding her niece hostage said Wednesday he plans to argue that his client was mentally deficient at the time of the crime.

"It's quite obvious it's a mental defect defense. In essence, she was not in the right mind to appreciate the consequences of her actions," said attorney Michael DerGarabedian of Rockville Centre. He said Kim Wolfe, 43, has been in and out of Elmhurst Hospital Center's psychiatric center while being held at Rikers Island.

At Wolfe's arraignment Wednesday in Nassau County Court in Mineola, acting State Supreme Court Justice David Ayres remanded her without bail and ordered a psychiatric evaluation. She is due back in court Sept. 8.

Wolfe, of North Babylon, who was arraigned on a grand jury indictment, also faced jeers from the family of her ex-girlfriend, Stacie Williams, 45.

"Keep your head up, baby," Barry King, the youngest son of Williams, yelled sarcastically at Wolfe as she was led into a police truck after court. Clad in a gray sweatshirt, Wolfe kept her head down and did not respond.

Police said Wolfe fatally shot Williams, a longtime nurse's aide in Nassau University Medical Center's labor and delivery suite, as they stood outside the East Meadow hospital early on June 16.

Afterward, Wolfe went to her Hempstead home, where she fatally shot her uncle, Marshall Williams Jr., 56, and wounded her grandfather, Marshall Williams, 88, according to police. Stacie Williams was not related to them. Wolfe then took hostage her niece, Mary Josey, 23, driving for several hours before surrendering to Nassau police, officials said.

Wolfe Wednesday pleaded not guilty to charges of two counts of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree kidnapping and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The grand jury indictment contained the same charges that she faced at her district court arraignment on June 17. She didn't enter a plea then.

Ayres issued orders of protection for Josey and Marshall Williams. Josey, who attended the arraignment, declined to comment. Wolfe's mother and sister also attended the arraignment, DerGarabedian said.