Judge rejects effort to keep Montour Trail fatal stabbing defendant in psychiatric hospital

An Allegheny County judge on Thursday ruled the person accused of fatally stabbing a Pennsylvania State Police Liquor Control Enforcement agent last year along the Montour Trail in Moon could not spend more time in a state psychiatric hospital.

Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Borkowski said he believes Anthony Quesen, 25, who is transgender and uses the name Antonia, is competent to stand trial and should not spend more time at Torrance State Hospital, where she had received care for months.

Borkowski said Quesen had been sent to the Allegheny County Jail within the last few days. A jail spokesperson refused to say when.

Quesen appeared in the courtroom Thursday in a bright yellow jail uniform.

Police charged Quesen with killing Benjamin Brallier, 44, of Coraopolis. Brallier was stabbed in his back, upper chest and hand on Oct. 21. He was off duty at the time.

Quesen faces a charge of criminal homicide. The next step for Quesen would be a preliminary hearing at which prosecutors would try to convince a judge that there was enough evidence to continue to trial in Common Pleas Court.

Several local Republican politicians demanded the removal of District Judge Xander Orenstein after the slaying, noting that Orenstein had released Quesen on nonmonetary bail in June 2023 on a simple assault case. Some argued Quesen should have been in jail at the time of the killing.

Borkowski said he reviewed various reports prepared by psychiatric experts seeking to determine whether Quesen was competent to stand trial.

He pointed out that a report prepared by Dr. Ayesha Ashai at Torrance determined Quesen understood her case and the potential penalties, could display appropriate courtroom behavior and was comfortable working with her defense attorney, Christopher Patarini of the Allegheny County Public Defender’s Office.

Patarini, however, argued that Quesen understood the facts of the case but suffered delusions that impact her ability to fully grasp the charges and potential defense options.

Patarini said he has hard a time communicating with Quesen and pointed to a different psychiatric report that determined Quesen’s insight and judgment were poor.

Quesen does not have a “rational understanding” of the case, Patarini told the judge, and she struggles with “persecutory delusions toward men.”

Patarini told the judge he believed Quesen was doing better after receiving treatment at Torrance and asked that she remain there.

Borkowski denied the request Thursday.