Megan McDonald waves to someone sitting in the courtroom as she is escorted out after her competency hearing at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta on Tuesday. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

AUGUSTA — A Sidney woman accused of strangling and stabbing her son to death is not mentally competent to stand trial, a forensic psychologist told a judge Tuesday.

Megan McDonald, 40, who is charged with murder in the killing of her 14-year-old son, Quincy McDonald, disputed the diagnosis.

She told police in December that God had chosen her for a murder-suicide and her son needed to be sacrificed, according to a police affidavit unsealed in court last month.

McDonald strangled the boy with a scarf, then stabbed him in the chest, the affidavit said.

Tuesday, a forensic psychologist who evaluated McDonald’s mental condition said McDonald’s delusional disorder causes her to have thoughts that are not based in reality, which makes her not competent to assist in her own defense.

Dr. April O’Grady, a consultant for the State Forensic Service, evaluated McDonald during two in-person interviews in January totaling about five hours.

McDonald does not understand the role her mental illness played in her thinking, O’Grady said, and McDonald needs to be able to comprehend that to make a rational decision about whether she should plead not criminally responsible for her alleged crimes.

“She believes she was acting in response to direct communication from God, who was telling her the world can’t continue in the way it is,” O’Grady said. “She wants to plead guilty as a way to make a statement to the world that they have to repent, and make peace.”

Forensic psychiatrist Dr. April O’Grady testifies Tuesday during a competency hearing for Megan McDonald, who is charged with killing her 14-year-old son. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

McDonald, wearing a green jail uniform and close-cropped dark hair, did not speak to the judge during the hearing at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta.

Scott Hess, one of her two lawyers, said McDonald does not agree with O’Grady’s diagnosis.

“Ms. McDonald wants to communicate that she does not agree with Dr. O’Grady’s evaluation,” Hess said. “Ms. McDonald feels she is competent.”

Superior Court Justice Daniel Mitchell did not make a ruling Tuesday. State prosecutors have 14 days to file their response as Mitchell ponders whether McDonald is competent enough to stand trial.

O’Grady said McDonald, in her interactions with her, showed organized thinking, was intelligent and articulate, and understands the charges against her and the legal consequences she faces.

But she said McDonald was not able to rationally communicate with her lawyers, or consider her options in her case, including pleading not criminally responsible, due to her delusions.

Under questioning from Assistant Attorney General Lisa Bogue, O’Grady answered “yes” when asked if McDonald understood that Quincy was a human being, her son and she killed him.

Superior Court Justice Daniel Mitchell presided over a competency hearing for Megan McDonald at the Capital Judicial Center in Augusta on Tuesday. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Asked by Mitchell about the possibility of McDonald’s mental competency being restored enough to stand trial, O’Grady said delusional disorder is known for being difficult to treat but studies showed a range of 71%-78% of people treated with antipsychotic medications are restored to competence.

O’Grady said McDonald is not currently taking antipsychotic medications and hasn’t in the past, though she was on other types of medications.

Police who responded in December to the McDonald family’s home at 2005 Summerhaven Road in Sidney found Quincy McDonald dead in the yard behind the house, with his body on a blanket beside a decorated Christmas tree, his feet propped on a Bible and a lock of his hair in his hand in what a police affidavit described as a makeshift altar.

Four of the family’s pets were also found dead in the yard.

McDonald told police that after killing Quincy, she planned to take her own life. Instead, she drove from Sidney to the Androscoggin County Sheriff’s Office in Auburn to turn herself in. She said she went to Androscoggin County because she was born at St. Mary’s, a Lewiston hospital.

McDonald said she understood that what she had done was wrong and she would be going to jail, the affidavit said. She also told police she believed what she had done needed to occur before Christmas.

McDonald reported to police that she had post-traumatic stress disorder, spontaneous heart issues and major depressive disorder. She said she had stopped taking all medications in April 2024.

When investigators asked her name, McDonald answered “Blip God” and said she had been “sent to save us from the Rapture, but she was too late.” She also said God had told her to kill her son.

McDonald was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation in December.

THE CRIME SCENE

Police officers who responded to McDonald’s home reportedly observed pieces of cut hair on the porch, and red and brown stains on the porch, suggesting Quincy was dragged from the front door to the backyard, where he was found lying on a blanket, the affidavit said.

Deputies said they had noticed notes on a bed inside the home that appeared to be a three-page apology letter to McDonald’s 19-year-old daughter.

The Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta has determined the boy died from “a combination of asphyxiation, manual strangulation and sharp force injury,” state police said. The medical examiner’s office ruled the death a homicide.

On Feb. 19, a Kennebec County grand jury indicted McDonald on charges of murder and aggravated cruelty to animals.

McDonald served in the U.S. Marines from June 23, 2003, to Aug. 10, 2010, and was discharged with the rank of lance corporal, according to information provided by Maj. Melissa Spencer, director of COMMSTRAT for the Manpower and Reserve Affairs division at the Marines Corps’ headquarters.

McDonald had recently worked as a practicing nurse and as a part-time lecturer in nursing in the University of Maine System.