HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Editor's Note: The video in the player above is from when doctors determined Mikese Morse was insane at the time of the crime.
The man believed to have been insane when police say he intentionally ran over a father biking with his two sons in 2018 will head to a mental health facility instead of prison.
The decision on Mikese Morse's fate was made final during a Zoom court hearing Monday. It comes several months after prosecutors reached an agreement with the defense to find the 33-year-old not guilty by reason of insanity.
Morse, who has a history of mental illness, was initially charged with premeditated first-degree murder after police say he collided with Pedro Aguerreberry, 42, on a bike path near New Tampa Boulevard and Wood Sage Drive.
Hours before that crash, police say Morse posted videos on social media ranting about the devil and murder, but there were also signs he's sought help. Morse voluntary Baker Acted himself weeks before the incident when reports show he attacked his public defender.
He also walked into a police substation and warned if allowed to leave he’d hurt someone.
Now, three years later, Morse will be committed to a maximum-security facility in Gainesville called the North Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center.
According to the court, both parties agreed on treatment for Morse instead of prison time before the judge signed off on it. It is unclear how long Morse will be committed to the treatment facility or if there is an opportunity for release.
"I regret not getting the help I needed before this happened. I'm sorry I caused you this pain. I know my words don't mean that much, but I'm really sorry," Morse said to the Aguerreberry family during the hearing.
Morse's parents in the past have warned of their son’s mental health problems and argued the system and systemic racism failed their family.
"There was no support for us. All of these years we were trying to get help for our son. And the moment this crime was committed, when we tried to prevent it from happening, then everyone conspired to feed our child into the criminal justice system," Mikese's mother, Khadeeja Morse said earlier this year.
"This system is broken. It’s unjust," his father Michael has previously stated. "And it’s got racial dynamics that continue to victimize people here locally in the same stuff that we’ve seen going on around the United States with these departments and other agencies acknowledging they need to do something."