JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A newly mentally competent Kimberly Kessler is due in back in court Thursday to face the murder charges against her.
Kessler, 51, is accused of killing Joleen Cummings, a Yulee hairstylist and mother of three who was last seen on Mother’s Day in 2018.
Kessler, who also went by the alias Jennifer Sybert, was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial in July and placed in psychiatric confinement at Florida State Hospital. In October, she was reevaluated by state psychologists who found her “competent to proceed.”
The mental evaluation itself is confidential. By law, Circuit Judge James Daniel is required to hold a hearing on the doctor’s determination, with Kessler present.
A criminal defendant's mental competence depends on whether she understands the adversarial nature of the proceeding, is able to behave in court and can assist in her defense.
An incompetency determination does not mean Kessler would be released; rather that she would be sent to involuntary confinement in the state's psychiatric hospital.
First Coast News will live stream Kessler’s court appearance from the Nassau County Courthouse. The proceedings will begin on Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m.
RELATED: 'I want answers more than anybody else': Items of interest found in Joleen Cummings disappearance
