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Cipriano's Attorney Awaits Results Of Competency Exam

PONTIAC (WWJ) - The attorney for a Farmington Hills teen accused of killing his father with a baseball bat says he may seek an insanity defense. Nineteen-year-old Tucker Cipriano and accomplice Mitchell Young appeared separately in Oakland County Court Tuesday on the murder charges.

Cipriano's attorney, Mitch Rabitwer, says he is awaiting results of a competency exam, saying his client could've been psychotic on the night of the murder, do to his admitted long-term use of synthetic marijuana also known as K-2.

"I know that he is still very distraught, is very withdrawn, he's quiet - he's internalized what has occurred ... feels horrible," said Rabitwer of Cipriano's demeanor in jail.

Rabitwer says he and Young's attorney will ask the judge for separate trials.

Cipriano and 20-year-old Mitchell Young were ordered to stand trial earlier this month, accused of breaking into the Cipriano home on April 16 and attacking the family with baseball bats.

Tucker Cipriano's father, Robert, 52, was killed in the attack that left his mother and brother critically injured. Two other children, Salvatore's twin brother, Tanner, and 8-year-old sister, Isabella, hid during the brutal beating and escaped unharmed after calling 911.

Cipriano and Young face life in prison if convicted on charges of first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree felony murder, assault with intent to murder and armed robbery.

The baseball bat attack was allegedly fueled by drugs and the desire to break into a safe in the family's home. According to witness testimony in the first installment of the arraignment, Tucker Cipriano and Young had talked about murdering a family for about two weeks before they allegedly went berserk in the Cipriano home.

Family and friends are raising money for the Cipriano family trust with barbecues and other fundraisers. Get more information on fundraising efforts HERE.

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