Judge orders mental evaluation for shooting suspect
HILO >> A Big Island man accused of shooting his former girlfriend earlier this year has been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation.
Seventy-two-year-old Joseph Amormino Sr. faces attempted first-degree murder and other charges in the shooting of June Shirshac in May.
The Hawaii Tribune-Herald reports that Amormino has pleaded not guilty. He’s been unable to post his $650,000 bail, and remains in custody at the jail where he once worked as a corrections officer.
Hilo Circuit Court Judge Glenn Hara last week ordered Amormino to undergo an evaluation by a three-person panel of mental health professionals. He scheduled a hearing on the panel’s findings for Jan. 8.
A Hilo police detective testified at a preliminary hearing Shirshac suffered wounds to her left shoulder and knee and right thigh and hand.