GEORGETOWN, Ohio – A man indicted on charges related to the death of an Aberdeen man in 2012 has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Last week Ronald Lee Fizer, a man charged with third-degree felonies involuntary manslaughter and reckless homicide in the overdose death of Justen Ryan Ramsey, 22, of Aberdeen.
According to court records, Judge Scott T. Gusweiler ordered an evaluation of Fizer’s competency to stand trial as well as an evaluation of his defense of not guilty by reason of insanity.
According to court documents, the examination will take place at Brown County Jail or at the Court Clinic Forensic Services. The examiner will then submit a written report of the examination to the court before thirty days are up.
The examiner’s report will contain the findings of the examiner, including facts on which the opinion is based and the opinion of the examiner as to whether Fizer is capable of understanding the nature and objective of court proceedings against him.
If Fizer is found incompetent to stand trial, according to the court, it must state in the report the likelihood of him becoming competent to stand trial within one year, according to Ohio law.
According to previous reports, on May, 2012, Justen Ryan Ramsey, 22, of Aberdeen had returned to the area from a job site out of state and met up with a female friend in Aberdeen.
Ramsey was found unresponsive on May 3, 2012, at Fizer’s home in Aberdeen. He was taken to Meadowview Regional Medical Center in Maysville where he was declared dead.
At the time, the Mason County Coroner determined the cause of death to be a heroin overdose.
The case was originally in the hands of the Aberdeen Police Department but was eventually transferred to the Brown County Prosecutor’s Office in 2015 due to the APD being understaffed, according to the police chief at the time.
The case was turned over to Buddy Coburn, an investigator with the Brown County Prosecutor’s Office, who investigated older cases.
“…we have limited resources and manpower to do the investigation,” said Brandon Swayne, APD Chief in 2015. “It is not that it is not important, it is just (Coburn) is better suited to handle this.”
Fizer is currently being held at the Brown County Jail on a $30,000 cash or surety bond. His competency hearing will be held on June 7 at 13:30 a.m.
