ESCONDIDO — A competency hearing has been scheduled for a man accused of beating an elderly Escondido resident to death last month.
Judge Richard Monroy suspended criminal proceedings against Thomas Caleb Butler, 32, pending an evaluation by a court-appointed psychiatrist.
Butler is accused of physically attacking 69-year-old Army veteran Kerry Sheron outside Sheron’s home near the corner of East Mission Avenue and Buchanan Street on May 20.
Sheron’s home is well known locally for its prominent display of American flags and pro-President Donald Trump signs.
Prosecutors allege Butler punched Sheron, causing him to fall to the ground, then struck him several more times after he had fallen. A bystander who attempted to intervene was also injured, according to police, and Butler fled the scene before being arrested a few blocks away.
Butler was initially charged with attempted murder, elder abuse, making criminal threats and battery. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last month, but Sheron died in a hospital two days later, four days after the attack.
“The violent assault and murder of Kerry Sheron outside his own home has left his family and community shaken and grieving for the veteran’s senseless loss of life,” District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement announcing Butler’s upgraded murder charge.
Escondido police are investigating the motive behind the attack, including whether it was politically motivated, though investigators have said they currently lack evidence to support that conclusion. Authorities are also investigating whether Butler and Sheron knew each other before the attack.
Butler was scheduled to be arraigned on the murder charge on June 5. Instead, the case was paused, and a competency hearing was set for July 17 to determine whether Butler is mentally competent to understand the proceedings and assist in his defense.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that family court records filed last year show Butler’s wife had been involved in multiple domestic violence calls, welfare checks and mental health-related incidents between 2020 and 2025, though none of the alleged incidents resulted in criminal charges in San Diego County.
In a March 2025 request for temporary full custody of their young daughter, Butler’s wife described him as an “unstable veteran” with “mental health issues” who would lash out and become violent.
