ORLANDO, Fla. — Jaylen Edgar, the teen charged in the 2024 Halloween shooting in downtown Orlando, wants to argue he experienced “temporary insanity” the night two people were killed at an outdoor holiday celebration, a move that will delay his scheduled trial next week.

The delay, reluctantly granted by Circuit Judge Keith Carsten, came as jury selection was slated to begin Thursday morning before the last-minute wrench in the proceedings. Potential panelists were waiting downstairs as prosecutors and Edgar’s attorney — all seemingly frustrated — deliberated over a letter written by Edgar and filed in court Tuesday.

Edgar’s trial on two charges of first-degree murder and several counts of attempted murder will be delayed at least a month, pending a new psychological evaluation. Assistant State Attorney Frank George said the prosecution’s case would be “entirely prejudiced” if not given the time to review its results and prepare for cross-examination should Edgar take the stand.

“I’m not happy about the position the court is in,” Carsten said. “This case has been announced ready for trial, and we have inconvenienced hundreds of members from our community to be brought into the courtroom to be considered for jury selection … [but] I’m satisfied that it would be an irreversible error for the court to deny the defendant’s opportunity to present that affirmative defense should he choose to do so.”

In the letter, Edgar, who was 17 at the time of the shooting and is being tried as an adult, wrote that an insanity defense wasn’t being explored despite “the intrusive thoughts and mental state of surreality I experienced on the night of the alleged shooting.”

“It is my contention that there has been no true meaningful effort by my attorney to explore the reasonable hypothesis of incompetency by having a second doctor follow up with a mental states (sic) exam to determine my presence of mind during the alleged commission of the crime,” Edgar wrote.

In the letter, Edgar sought to dump his lawyer, Junior Barrett, and Barrett also sought to remove himself from the case citing ethical concerns. But Carsten denied both of their requests and ordered Edgar’s psychological evaluation be completed within 30 days.

Successfully arguing an insanity defense, the prerogative of any defendant, is a difficult hurdle. It would require expert witnesses willing to attest to Edgar’s fractured mental state at the time of the shooting and, if he chooses to, Edgar testifying on his own behalf.

A psychological evaluation performed after his arrest did not appear to raise concerns about his mental state the night of the shooting, and no other questions about his competency to stand trial have been formally raised in the 14 months since he was jailed.

In court, Barrett,Edgar’s court-appointed attorney, argued that an insanity defense is something “often times, unfortunately, juries don’t buy.” Edgar, who was 17 at the time of the shooting and is being tried as an adult, listened attentively as he sat next to Barrett, speaking only when asked to confirm his intent to plead insanity.

“I will essentially have to do a narrative form of an interview with him” if Edgar takes the stand. “Based upon my experience with him in this case and others that I have hired that have had experiences with him, including a mitigation expert, I truly don’t think he’s capable to effectively do that.”

The trial’s delay also could allow Barrett to prepare potential defenses against fingerprint analysis of the gun and the magazine used that night, which was belatedly disclosed by prosecutors in what Carsten ruled was a “willful” discovery violation.

On Halloween night 2024, surveillance video appeared to show Edgar shooting 25-year-old Tyrek Hill in the face from point-blank range near the corner of Orange Avenue and Central Boulevard. Shortly afterward, as he walked along Orange Avenue toward Washington Street, video shows he got into an altercation with a group of people and pulled out his weapon again, firing multiple shots that fatally struck Timothy Schmidt Jr., 17, and injured several others.

Police officers stationed downtown that night quickly apprehended Edgar amid the havoc of the crowd fleeing for their lives. Up to now, Edgar’s alleged motives for killing Hill seemingly unprompted have not been disclosed. A lawyer for Teresa Clinton and Timothy Schmidt Sr. — the late victims’ respective mother and father, who are also suing the City of Orlando and Wall Street Plaza’s operator for negligence — declined to comment on the trial’s delay.

The shooting led to Orlando commissioners seeking to address the violence by controversially restricting alcohol sales and placing further responsibility for security on business owners, adding to the city’s legal woes.

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