A man accused of stealing two exotic monkeys from the Dallas Zoo and cutting open the fenced enclosures of other animals has been declared "mentally ill" and will not stand trial, according to court records.
Several months after his arrest, 24-year-old Davion Irwin faced a judge on Friday, July 28, and was ruled incompetent. A few days later, Irwin was evaluated by a doctor for competency and was ultimately sentenced to an inpatient treatment facility on Tuesday, Aug. 1.
According to arrest warrant affidavits, Irwin admitted to Dallas Police that he waited until nightfall on Sunday, Jan. 29, to break into the zoo and steal two emperor tamarin monkeys named Bella and Finn. After taking the monkeys, Irwin said he got on the city's light rail and went to a vacant home where he kept other animals.
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Police said the man also confessed to cutting open the enclosures for a clouded leopard that escaped her enclosure and langur monkeys. All of the langurs were still inside their habitat and unharmed when the damage to the enclosure was found.
Dallas Police received a tip and found the monkeys on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at a vacant home in Lancaster, a Dallas suburb about 15 miles south of the zoo.
The affidavits said officers found cats, pigeons, dead feeder fish, and fish food that had disappeared from a staff-only part of the zoo earlier in January but was not reported stolen.
A spokesperson for the Dallas World Aquarium said on Thursday, Feb. 2, Irwin was seen near animal exhibits and he asked an employee questions about the animals there. He was soon apprehended by police a few blocks away from the aquarium and taken in for questioning.
Irwin was later arrested and charged with two counts of burglary and three counts of animal cruelty. His bond was set at $25,000.
In court records obtained earlier this year, Irvin said he loved animals and if released from jail he'd steal more.
