YOUNGSTOWN — Judge John Durkin has ruled that Carlos A. Flores Jr., 21, of Glenwood Avenue is competent to stand trial in the July 18, 2021, shooting death of Reshaud Biggs Jr., 17, at the Gateway Gas Mart, 3216 South Ave.

Rob Andrews, assistant county prosecutor, said the prosecution and defense agree to the findings of Dr. Przemyslaw Kapalczynski of Heartland Behavioral Healthcare, a state mental hospital in Massillon, that Flores is competent to stand trial.

Defense attorney Dave Betras said he was stipulating to the finding that Flores was competent to stand trial but wanted the judge to mention in his judgment entry that Flores “suffers from a mental defect. He is intellectually well below average.”

The judge said the doctor’s report indicates that Flores has an intellectual disability and that multiple IQ tests have been done over time. But the report indicated that Flores pretends to be more disabled than he is.

The judge read from the doctor’s report: “Although Mr.. Flores’ records demonstrate a history of intellectual disability, its presentation conformance upon testing during this hospitalization only show that he is deliberately putting low effort and deliberately presenting himself as much more intellectually impaired than he actually is.”

The judge said the diagnosis from the doctor is that despite Flores having a diagnosis of “mild intellectual disability” Flores is “presently capable of understanding the nature and objectives of the proceedings against him and capable of assisting in his defense.”

Betras said he raised the issue because Flores tested a 60 on an IQ test, which Betras said is “more than mild.”

But Rob Andrews, assistant county prosecutor, said the prosecutor’s office is willing to stipulate to Flores being mildly intellectually disabled, but the Royal Children’s Hospital, “which is the authority on this, (says) 50 to 70 IQ is mild.”

In October 2022, the judge ruled against a separate motion asking that the evidence obtained during an interview of Flores by a Youngstown police detective be suppressed from the murder case.

Flores is also indicted on carrying concealed weapons and obstructing official business in a separate case in March of 2021. In that case, Flores and Antonio Flores, then 17, also of Glenwood Avenue, were arrested after police found them with handguns in their clothing.

Police were called to the 3200 block of South Avenue for a gunshot at 10:27 p.m. March 28. When officers arrived, they saw a group of males walking on the sidewalk nearby.

Officers checked them for weapons and found a handgun in the hip of Carlos Flores’ pants. He briefly ran from police and reached for his pocket, police said. An officer deployed a stun gun, causing him to fall.

A gun fell to the ground from his clothing just prior to the stun being deployed. A gun also was found in the pocket of Antonio Flores, 17, of Glenwood Avenue, as well as suspected drugs in a fanny pack he was wearing. Carlos Flores was 18 at the time of the homicide and the weapons charge.