PTSD on Trial in North Carolina

Army vet who shot girlfriend found not guilty by reason of insanity
Davon Thomas, who killed his girlfriend at his parents’ home in 2009, ruled insane
By Gary L. Wright
Posted: Friday, Nov. 30, 2012

Davon Lamont Thomas, an Iraq War veteran who was charged with killing his girlfriend in 2009, has been found not guilty by reason of insanity after he was diagnosed as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Thomas, 30, will be committed to a state mental hospital.

Thomas was charged with murder in connection with the November 2009 killing of his 23-year-old girlfriend, Tigist Yemane.

Yemane, who originally came to Charlotte from Ethiopia for an operation to fix a heart defect, was shot to death in Thomas’ parents’ house in the Reedy Creek community.

Thomas in September 2011 pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

His lawyer, Jean Lawson, said the Army veteran had post-traumatic stress disorder and killed his girlfriend because he thought she was part of a terrorist attack on America.

“Davon Thomas volunteered to serve in the North Carolina Army National Guard, was deployed to active combat duty in Iraq and developed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” Lawson wrote in a court document.
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