Kansas City woman charged in son’s February homicide found incompetent to stand trial
A Kansas City mother accused of decapitating her 6-year-old son has been found incompetent to stand trial.
Last week, a Jackson County judge ordered Tasha L. Haefs, 35, into the custody of the Missouri Department of Mental Health after finding her incompetent to stand trial, said Mike Mansur, a spokesman for the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Haefs, 35, was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing of her youngest son, 6-year-old Karvel Stevens.
While Haefs was found not mentally fit at this time, her competence will be re-evaluated after several months of treatment, he said.
Months earlier, at her arraignment, a Jackson County judge ordered that Haefs undergo a mental health evaluation. Her resulting diagnosis is not public.
A GoFundMe fundraiser page described Karvel as being a happy child who enjoyed going to the park and eating Popeye’s chicken sandwiches with fries. Karvel was a student at Spring Valley Elementary School in Raytown.
A gruesome scene
At 11:45 p.m. on Feb. 15, police were called to a home in the 7300 block of Indiana Avenue on Kansas City’s southeast side. Police forced entry into Haefs’ home and found the decapitated body of her son. Authorities allege she admitted to killing him in a bathtub.
Haefs made the initial 911 call, saying that “the devil was trying to attack her,” according to court records.
Police found a gruesome scene, with blood staining much of the entryway of the home where Haefs lived with her three children. They found the child’s head near the front door. After searching the home, police also located two knives and a dead dog. Its head was also severed.
Haefs was in the kitchen, singing, when police arrived.
Family previously told The Star that Haefs spent years struggling with drug addiction, depression, severe trauma and hallucinations.
If you or someone you know needs mental health help, call the Missouri Crisis line at 1-888-279-8188 or visit mentalhealthkc.org.
