Deeds' Son Underwent Mental Health Eval Yesterday

Source says an emergency custody order was issued for Gus Deeds
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 19, 2013 12:55 PM CST
Deeds' Son Underwent Mental Health Eval Yesterday
In a Sept. 25, 2009 photo, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds spends time with his son Gus, left, on the road to Halifax, Va.   (AP Photo/Richmond Times-Dispatch, Hyunsoo Leo Kim)

We still don't know much about what happened inside Virginia state Sen. Creigh Deeds' home today, but the Times-Dispatch has some insight into the mental state of his 24-year-old son, who died from a gunshot wound this morning: It reports by way of a source that Gus Deeds yesterday underwent a mental-health evaluation that arose out of an emergency custody order. Though there's no word on why it was issued or at whose request, the paper explains that the ECO meant the younger Deeds could be held up to four hours for an exam, after which he could be held for up to 72 hours by way of a temporary detention order.

That evaluation happened yesterday via the Rockbridge Area Community Services Board in Lexington. The Times-Dispatch adds this ominous line: The source says the younger Deeds was released because there was not an open psychiatric bed. A stage police sergeant has confirmed that Creigh and Gus were the only people in the home this morning, and said that an "apparent" self-inflicted gunshot wound killed Gus. Click for more on the story. (More Creigh Deeds stories.)

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