Suspect In Greystone Killing Faced Murder Charges Before

MORRIS PLAINS, NJ - The 28-year-old Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital patient charged in a New Year's Eve stabbing death has been arrested for murder before, according to authorities.

In 2014, Rashid Davis was accused of beating and stabbing an elderly man to death and injuring two others in a separate incident in a Newark apartment building, according to the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

In that case, Davis was charged with murder, felony murder, burglary, robbery, possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. When he was arrested in May 2014, prosecutors said, he had a loaded firearm.

Later, in August 2016, Davis was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a state psychiatric facility based on that finding, according to Essex County Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Katherine Carter.

On Tuesday, Davis was found wandering the halls of Greystone with blood on his hand and was subsequently arrested and charged with murdering someone in his room, according to the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.

Hospital staff found the victim lying on the floor in Davis's room in a pool of blood, authorities said. The cause of death was determined to be multiple stab wounds to the neck area and the manner of death is homicide, authorities said.

The investigation remains ongoing and the identity of the deceased individual, and whether they were a patient or a staff member, will not be released at this time, authorities said.

Donna Leusner, spokesperson for the Department of Health, said her department does not comment on any pending investigation, litigation or personnel actions. The Morris County Prosecutor's Office said no further information would be released at this time.

In the 2014 case, Davis was accused of killing Leonard Pearson, 83, whose body was found by family members in his 15th floor Nevada Street apartment in Newark. Davis was also accused of a separate robbery that occurred on the 19th floor of the same building, the prosecutor's office said. Two people were injured and hospitalized in that incident.

Davis was also found not guilty by reason of insanity in November 2014 on the robbery and weapons charges. For his murder trial, Superior Court Judge Ronald Wigler found him competent to stand trial after a mental health evaluation, authorities said.

After he was found not guilty, Davis was hospitalized at the Ann Klein Forensic Center, a state psychiatric hospital in Ewing, and eventually transferred to Greystone.

In the current case, Davis has been charged by warrant-complaint with first degree murder, third degree possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, and fourth degree unlawful possession of a weapon in connection to the incident, authorities said.

This is not the first incident of violence reported at the institution. A lawsuit filed last year said an "atmosphere of terror and retaliation" has led to serious assaults and several deaths at Greystone Psychiatric Park in recent years.

Messages to Greystone administration were not returned.

Morris County Sheriff James Gannon is a trustee of Greystone. He was appointed by former Gov. Chris Christie as part of a complete overhaul of the state hospital’s review board.

"I take this appointment very seriously and plan to work very hard on behalf of the patients from Morris County and across North Jersey who have ended up at Greystone due to severe mental illness," Gannon said at the time. "Those patients – who are our family members and friends and neighbors and co-workers — count on the staff and administration of this hospital to provide the best care possible and in a most secure setting."

Through a spokesperson, Gannon told Patch that due to the ongoing prosecution and litigation, he would be referring all inquiries to Leusner.

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