A prosecutor in Florida has pointed to the steep costs of mental health care as a potential reason why a man may not have received necessary treatment before allegedly committing a triple homicide near Disney World.
State Attorney Monique Worrell delivered an impassioned statement on Thursday, following the arrest of 29-year-old Jihad Bojeh. Bojeh faces three first-degree murder charges for the shooting deaths that took place on January 17.
The victims, Robert Luis Kraft, 69, his brother Douglas Joseph Kraft, 68, and their friend James Puchan, 68, had traveled to the area for the Mecum Car Show in Kissimmee, a short drive from Orlando.
According to the Osceola County Sheriff’s office, as the group prepared to leave their rental property, they were fatally shot by Bojeh.
Following Bojeh’s arrest and the subsequent charges, it was uncovered that this incident was not his first encounter with legal authorities.
In 2021, Bojeh faced charges of attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, aggravated battery, and two counts of criminal mischief after a shooting at a Wawa gas station.
Bojeh was acquitted in 2022 of those charges by reason of insanity, meaning he committed the crime, but did not know what he did was wrong. He was approved to go to an outpatient mental health facility rather than a state treatment center.
Now, with him back in custody, Worrell said ‘failure’ in the legal system led to Bojeh’s most recent crime because he could not afford the costly price of mental health support he was meant to get.
State Attorney Monique Worrell blamed the high cost of mental health treatment on why Jihad Bojeh, 29, couldn’t get the help he needed following a previous arrest in 2021. Now he is accused of killing three male tourists in Kissimmee, Florida on January 18
Robert Luis Kraft, 69, his brother Douglas Joseph Kraft, 68, and their friend James Puchan, 68, were allegedly shot to death by Bojeh (pictured) while they were in town for the Mecum Car Show
‘My understanding is that that treatment was originally costing $7 a month and that after a period of time, that $7 a month bill went up to $150+ a month,’ Worrell said during a press conference last week.
‘That the individual was no longer in compliance with his treatment because of inability to pay for that treatment,’ she added.
Worrell, who represents the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, went on to add that stopping necessary mental health resources for Bojeh was a ‘failure’ in the system.
‘The criminal legal system is not adequately equipped to deal with mental illness, nor should it be. That is a role of community partners. That is a role of mental illness hospitals, but not the Department of Corrections or the state attorney’s office,’ she said.
‘However, studies have shown that our jails and our departments of corrections are the largest mental health providers in our communities. That’s a problem. It’s a problem because when things go wrong, people are looking for someone to blame.’
The prosecutor said that although Bojeh was found ‘legally insane’, during his 2022 sentencing it, it was determined that he was not a danger to himself or others.
She added: ‘Based on that, the standard that is set forth in the statute prohibits the court from sentencing someone to involuntary commitment in a mental health hospital.’
Worrell also said that when an offender does not receive mental health treatment it can be brought to the attention of a judge in competency court.
The Kraft brother’s and Puchan’s family said they had never met the suspect who ‘senselessly murdered’ them. ‘This was a random tragic act,’ the families said. (Pictured: The three friends)
‘That judge may make some changes to their conditional release as a result of that. I would imagine that that didn’t happen in this case, and questions as to why it didn’t happen in this case, I think would have to be directed towards the case manager and the agency who is responsible for his supervision,’ Worrell continued.
In addition to being ordered to receive mental health support in an outpatient facility, the State Attorney’s Office and Bojeh’s defense attorney agreed to skip a jury trial and let the Judge Alicia Latimore make the determination on her own to release him.
From 2006 to 2022, the Oceola County Sheriff’s office received 41 calls for service to his parents address, which is where he also lived.
‘Of the 41 calls, 16 involved Ahmad Jihad Bojeh, the majority of when he was a minor,’ the agency said, per Fox 35.
The calls mainly detailed Bojeh’s father saying his son was being aggressive toward family members and that he refused to go to school, the sheriff’s office said.
In a 2020 letter to a judge, his father said Bojeh ‘has been sitting home since 2014.’
He added: ‘He has no income or any source of support. I am the only one who is taking care of him. My income is very limited. I support my wife, she’s sick, no work, no income.’
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier immediately slammed Worrell for her defense of Bojeh
He also noted at the time that his son ‘spends most of his time in the garage screaming, sometimes laughing.’ Bojeh’s father continued: ‘You can’t open a discussion with him.’
As a teenager, Bojeh also had several run-in’s with police regarding drugs and a number of burglaries.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier immediately slammed Worrell for her defense of Bojeh.
‘Regardless of the spin State Attorney Worrell is selling, she knowingly stipulated to an agreement that avoided a jury trial and allowed Jihad Bojeh to receive outpatient treatment instead of being committed to a state hospital,’ he said in an recent X post alongside an article of the new crime the suspect is accused of.
‘She failed to pursue justice, and three men are dead because of her failure.’
The Kraft brothers and Puchan’s family said they had never met the suspect who ‘senselessly murdered’ them. ‘This was a random tragic act,’ the families said.
While the trio prepared to head back home from their rental (pictured), they were approached by an unknown person before being shot to death by Bojeh, the Osceola County Sheriff’s office said
The three friends have been remembered as loving husbands, brothers, uncles and more to all who loved them.
‘These three wonderful men did not deserve this. Our families are left with an unexpected, unimaginable loss that cannot be put into words,’ both families said in a joint statement.
‘We ask for privacy, prayers, and respect as we mourn and begin to process this tragedy.’
The Daily Mail contacted Worrell and Judge Latimore for comment.
