PHOENIX — A man accused of killing his relatives has been released from the Arizona State Hospital, according to a lawyer for family members, who told ABC15 they worry he's still a “dangerous man.”
Rodney Aviles was arrested and charged with the murder of his mother Mauricia Aviles and his 7-year-old niece Alexia in June 1999, but he never went to trial because the court found him incompetent and not restorable on two different occasions.
The family told ABC15 during an interview in 1999 that Aviles committed the alleged crimes just hours after being released from a psychiatric facility.
Aviles has been in the Arizona State Hospital for most of the last 24 years. On three occasions, he was released and then quickly civilly committed back to the hospital, according to a lawyer for Aviles' relatives.
“He’s got two murders under his belt," said Orlando Aviles, Rodney's brother. "It's not anybody it’s his mother and his niece, that’s hard, it’s very difficult for us, and it’s dangerous.”
Orlando added that he still communicates with his brother despite the death of his mother.
“I love my brother very much, I really do,” he said.
The ABC15 Investigators have learned through a public records request that Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell sent a letter in February to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and the acting director of the Arizona State Hospital about what she calls “serious community safety concerns.”
MCAO has tried to prosecute Aviles three times, but he was found incompetent and not restorable in 1999, 2006, and in 2010.
Mitchell wrote in her letter to the State Hospital and Attorney General Mayes, “Unfortunately, based on the most current records received from [his sister], it does not appear that there is any significant change in Mr. Aviles' condition that would support prosecution.”
The letter from Mitchell states that MCAO is “quite concerned that Mr. Aviles poses an ongoing threat to this family specifically and the community at large.”
Through court records obtained by the ABC15 Investigators, we found that the Arizona Department of Health Services responded to Mitchell with a four-page letter about Aviles.
“We do not dispute that in 1999 Mr. Aviles caused the death of members of his family,” Michael Sheldon, CEO of Arizona’s State Hospital and Deputy Director of ADHS, wrote. “Nor do we dispute that he was found incompetent and not restorable.”
Sheldon emphasized in the letter that Aviles is under a Title 36 order for treatment, which means he is a civilly committed patient receiving treatment and should be "under the least restrictive means."
The letter from Sheldon states that Aviles knows what his medicines are and their intended purpose, adding “he’s not voiced any ideation, intent or plans to harm himself or anybody else at any time. Nothing he has said has come across this threatening."
“He's going somewhere in the community, we don't know, but there's a grave risk posed to wherever he ends up,” said Joshua Mozell, an attorney for the relatives of Aviles.
A 2021 court filing objecting to Aviles' release shows how in 2017, a doctor stated that Aviles "has no insight into the fact of his illness and insists he does not really need medication."
Court documents also show that a doctor wrote in a 2019 report, "at the present time, the patient is expected to need inpatient care for the duration of his life barring a medical breakthrough."
Mozell worries Aviles' release will put the community at risk.
When ABC15 asked ASH about Aviles' release, Sheldon said by email that the state hospital is not permitted to discuss patient-specific activities.
Sheldon also wrote that ASH is not an indefinite-stay facility for civil patients.
“The Hospital operates on a recovery model and treats all patients with the intent to discharge them back into the community, so they can become valued contributors to society,” Sheldon wrote.
The ABC15 Investigators also asked why the community is not notified of a release like this.
“Notifying the public of release would be in violation of federal and state patient confidentiality rules,” Sheldon said by email. He added that victims would be notified by MCAO upon the release of an individual convicted of a violent crime.
Aviles has never been convicted.
Mozell said Aviles is expected to be released to a behavioral care facility, but it's unclear which one. Court records show several facilities refused to accept him in the past.
Mozell calls the release by ASH a bad decision, saying, “It's a dangerous decision. It's putting the community at risk.”
ABC15 has reached out to the Arizona Department of Health Services, which runs ASH, to confirm the family lawyer’s report of Aviles’ release. ADHS says it is "not permitted to discuss patient-specific activities."
However, ASH has been preparing for his release for months.
After ABC15's reporting on this story Thursday, State Senator Anthony Kern (R) and State Senator T.J. Shope (R) have called on Attorney General Kris Mayes and Governor Katie Hobbs to rescind the release of Aviles.
"If this man is unfit for trial after murdering his family, he's unfit to be on the streets with the general public and must stay under proper care and supervision," said Senator Shope. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Health & Human Services, I'll be working with my colleagues to bring truly independent oversight of the Arizona State Hospital. This is clearly necessary to keep patients and citizens safe from the winds of politics."
