The mother charged in the June death of a North Memphis toddler has been deemed competent to stand for trial.

Brittney Jackson, the mother of Sequoia Samuels, has been charged with three crimes related to the child’s death: aggravated child neglect, abuse of a corpse and filing a false offense report. 

After being booked on June 16, she was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation after Shelby County General Sessions Criminal Court Division 15 Judge Christian Johnson granted the request from her lawyer, Kenneth Brashier. 

Bail unchanged for man charged in Sequoia Samuels’ death

The results were initially set to be revealed July 31 but were pushed back twice. 

Brashier has argued that Jackson suffers from battered women’s syndrome, which he has said could explain her actions.

He has said that the syndrome stems from a history of physical abuse she suffered at the hands of her boyfriend Jaylon Hobson, who also has been charged in relation to Samuels’ death. 

Hobson has so far only been charged with filing a false offense report but his attorney Craig Morton has said he expects “some sort of homicide charge” to be added to his case. Hobson is currently waiting on a grand jury’s indictment decision.

Jackson and Hobson were both charged June 16, the day after Samuels was allegedly falsely reported missing by the couple. The missing person call resulted in a day-long manhunt that involved multiple agencies including the Memphis Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

Mother of 4-year-old found dead was ‘afraid to come forth,’ lawyer says

Police said after they discovered Samuels’ body that she had likely been dead for weeks. Jackson told police that Hobson “physically attacked” Samuels multiple times over the course of several weeks, eventually doing so one last time that resulted in her death, according to an MPD affidavit.

Hobson tried to revive Samuels but she never regained consciousness, according to the affidavit, and Jackson never tried to render aid. 

Brashier said that it’s rare for mental health evaluations to conclude that someone is not competent. 

“There has to be something very extreme for them to go and say ‘No, look she’s not competent’,” he said. 

Even though it has now been determined that Jackson’s alleged condition has not affected her mental competency, Brashier has also said that it could affect her ultimate responsibility for Samuels’ death. 

“I’m not saying there’s an excuse for what she’s done… but she’s been through a lot. There’s no question about it,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s still a tragedy for this community, for this family. None of this is going to bring the baby back but it may help us understand what was going on when all this happened.”

Jackson is due back in court on Sept. 7.