Insanity defense tested in fatal Midtown shooting trial

Kengne, in custody since her arrest, pleaded not guilty to 14 felony charges including murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, attempted burglary in the first degree and false imprisonment. She is pushing for a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Defense attorney Dwight Thomas said Kengne “drifted into a very, very dark place” before the shootings and remained there afterward, only deemed competent to stand trial after being put on medication like a “tranquilizer.” He told the jury there is a thin line between sanity and insanity.

“We’re not here to contest the what, the who or the where as to the evidence,” Thomas said in his opening statement. “We’re here to offer evidence of why.”

Evidence of Kengne’s “bizarre behavior” and multiple mental evaluations will shape her defense, Thomas said, adding an apology to the victims, their families and others affected by the shootings.

Fulton County prosecutor Adam Abbate said Kengne “executed” Shinners and Freeman as she had planned to do. He said multiple witnesses to the shootings will testify about the “terror” and “horror” Kengne inflicted that day.

“This defendant knew right from wrong,” Abbate said during his opening statement. “She was not operating under a justified delusional compulsion. This defendant acted out of anger. She acted out of revenge.”

Abbate said Kengne had a multipage “hit list” of people she thought had wronged her. He said she executed a power of attorney document three days before the shootings, turning over everything she had to a family member.

Kengne bought a Glock 19 handgun the next day, on Aug. 20, 2022, and received a one-on-one lesson in using the firearm the day before the shootings, Abbate said. He said shell casings from the scenes of the shootings matched Kengne’s gun, which was in her purse alongside $3,000 in cash, her passport and the “hit list” when she was arrested.

Kengne was deemed competent to stand trial after being forced to take antipsychotic medicine under an order by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shukura Ingram.

Before jury selection began on Thursday, the judge granted a request by Kengne’s lawyers to prohibit media from photographing or filming in court during the trial. Kengne’s attorneys said she is still “particularly vulnerable to the stress of being filmed,” and that cameras in court could trigger her paranoia and delusions, risking a mistrial.

Shinners was the property manager and Horne was the chief building engineer of the high-rise Midtown apartment complex, 1280 West, where Kengne had lived for several years.

Atlanta police said Shinners and Horne were shot first and found in the management office of the complex around 1:45 p.m. Shinners was dead and Horne was initially placed in a medically-induced coma with a gunshot wound to his abdomen area.

Freeman was shot about 30 minutes later at his workplace in a nearby office tower on Peachtree Street and died at Grady Memorial Hospital. He was Kengne’s former boss at BDO USA, a public accounting firm where he had been her direct supervisor for several years until 2021.

Police said Kengne held a fourth victim, Zamir Steed, at gunpoint in the 1280 West management office while demanding personal property from them.

Abbate said Steed, called to testify Monday, was almost struck in the head by bullets from Kengne’s handgun. He said Horne died of cancer a couple of years after the incident.

Steed, an administrative assistant at 1280 West at the time of the shootings, said Kengne ran toward her and shot at her while she hid in a bathroom. She said Kengne then held her at gunpoint while demanding keys for the building. Steed said she couldn’t open a drawer to get the keys because her hands were shaking.

“She looked at me and she said, ‘I’m not going to kill you,’ and she just walked out,” Steed said of Kengne. “It was as if she had an agenda.”

The shootings sent one of the busiest and most expensive parts of Atlanta into a frenzy. Shelter-in-place orders were issued, police from multiple agencies swarmed the area and a citywide hunt was launched for Kengne.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Police said Kengne was apprehended by U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents around 4 p.m.

Abbate said Kengne withdrew $3,000 from Truist Bank in Colony Square just after the shootings, before getting in a taxi.

Taxi driver Giles Mandio told investigators he picked up Kengne near Colony Square around 2:20 p.m. and drove her to the airport after a short stop at a home in Ansley Park. The home belonged to Michael Sullivan, a lawyer who had briefly represented Kengne in relation to a potential whistleblower claim.

According to her indictment, Kengne intended to break into the lawyer’s home to commit assault with a deadly weapon. Sullivan, who was on Kengne’s “hit list,” and Mandio are expected to testify at trial, Abbate said.

Before the shootings, Kengne had sued Shinners, Freeman, BDO USA and others, alleging they retaliated against her, broke into her home, persecuted her and blacklisted her from relevant job opportunities. Representing herself, she had also accused her former attorneys of violating attorney-client privilege and talking to BDO USA about the litigation.

Kengne is originally from Cameroon in west central Africa, Abbate said. She has interpreters guiding her through the trial. Her lawyers said Monday that her brother has traveled to Atlanta from France for the trial.

Prosecutors have more than 60 witnesses they may call to testify, including the wives of Shinners and Freeman and Horne’s daughter, court records show.