HARTFORD, Conn. — Editor's Note: The video above is from June 2021.
The woman acquitted of stabbing a Hartford police officer multiple times in the neck more than three years ago was committed to 38 years in maximum security at Whiting Forensic Hospital in Middletown, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Chevoughn Augustin, who has a documented history of schizophrenia and mental health episodes, was acquitted in June of stabbing former Hartford police Officer Jill Kidik.
At the time of her acquittal, the judge ordered further psychiatric evaluations before scheduling a commitment hearing.
On May 17, 2018, police responded to an apartment complex in Hartford for a reported disturbance between a landlord and tenant. Police said Augustin allegedly stabbed officer Kidik several times in the neck with a knife.
Kidik was a 13-year veteran of the force, who made a full recovery but retired in 2019 due to her injuries.
During her commitment hearing on Wednesday, Dr. Reena Kapoor, the Chief of Forensic Services for Whiting Forensic, testified that Augustin had been off her prescribed medication for her mental health issues for approximately two months prior to the knife attack.
Kidik, who read a victim's impact statement, said Augustin “intended on murdering” her that day in May 2018.
“No matter what anyone says, or what her state was or is, she wanted me dead,” Kidik said. “She could not have come any closer to succeeding.”
She continued: “She made a choice that day and she is not free from the consequences of that choice. She is not well. She will do this again. She will be noncompliant with medicine and treatment with whatever she is diagnosed with if allowed to be on her own for any length of time. She will return to that dark place she was in the day I knocked on her door. If allowed back into society she will attack someone again.”
Judge David Gold, in issuing the 38-year commitment, said Augustin has been chronically dangerous and noncompliant, citing other encounters with law enforcement, including at a U.S. Embassy and on the campus of Trinity College, from which she is a graduate.
Augustin told police she attacked the officer because she thought Kidik was going to kill her. But, Dr. Kapoor testified there was no evidence to support Augustine’s belief. The doctor added that Augustin has been mentally ill for at least 20 years and that her thoughts are disordered even while taking medication.
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