VISTA — Malcolm Pope, who was initially found mentally incompetent to stand trial for the murder of his mother in August 2025, had his competency restored last week and is expected to appear in court on Nov. 2.
Pope was 26 when sheriff’s deputies reported finding him barricaded in the bathroom of his mother’s house in north Vista on April 23, 2025. He was taken into custody after a several-hour standoff with a SWAT team. His mother, Mireya Pope, 60, was found dead in the home with numerous stab wounds.
Following his arraignment on a first-degree murder charge, where Pope pleaded not guilty, his attorney requested a competency hearing. In August 2025, a forensic psychiatrist told a San Diego court that Pope was not competent to stand trial.
The prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney Allana Platt, requested a second evaluation, which Judge Kristopher S. Young declined to order, stating he lacked the authority to do so. The judge did, however, allow the District Attorney’s Office to decide whether to hire a second therapist to evaluate the defendant.
On Aug. 28, 2025, the judge finalized the finding that Pope was incompetent to stand trial.
A spokesperson for the DA’s Office said in an email that Pope regained competency on Friday, Sept. 25, and appeared for a readiness hearing on Tuesday morning in Dept. 6 of the Vista Courthouse.
Judge Richard Monroy continued the readiness hearing to Nov. 2, when Pope will return to court on the first-degree murder charge.
