Man accused of killing estranged wife in Urbana found competent for trial

A Walkersville man accused of murdering his estranged wife at a Giant store in Urbana earlier this year will stand trial after a mental health evaluation affirmed his competency.

Frederick Owusu-Sakyi, 34, is alleged to have shot Tenisha Butler, 33, multiple times on the night of Jan. 6 as she was leaving her shift at the Giant grocery store in Urbana where she worked.

Owusu-Sakyi allegedly had several drinks at a nearby restaurant in the lead-up to the shooting.

A bartender who was working at the restaurant reportedly told police that Owusu-Sayki was acting strangely that night, walking back and forth from the bar to the front of the restaurant to look outside.

Butler filed for absolute divorce from her husband the day before she was killed and had an active protective order against him at the time, online court records show.

The evaluation was ordered by Frederick County Circuit Judge Julia Martz-Fisher in May after Owusu-Sakyi's public defender, Stephen Musselman, asked the court to accept his client's plea of not criminally responsible.

The filing asserted that Owusu-Sakyi "lacked substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of the law" at the time of the alleged murder due to a mental disorder.

Following the evaluation, the Maryland Department of Health deemed Owusu-Sakyi competent to stand trial.

The findings of the Department of Health were returned to the court on Oct. 24 and accepted by Martz-Fisher at a hearing on Tuesday, Frederick County State's Attorney's Office spokesperson Jacqueline Rottmann said in a phone interview.

Elizabeth Connell, who is listed in online court records as Owusu-Sakyi's current attorney, could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Owusu-Sakyi's trial is scheduled to run from Sept. 8 to 19 in 2025.