Chase suspect charged with murder has history of mental health issues, attorney says

HOUSTON – A man accused of leading police on a chase that ended in a deadly crash faced a judge Monday morning.

Joshua Myles is charged with murder and evading arrest. Police said he took off in a stolen car Thursday before crashing into a Nissan and a Kia in southeast Houston.

The 61-year-old man driving the Nissan, identified as Darrell Wayne Barefield, died Thursday night from his injuries.

Emily Vasquez, 47, who was also in the Nissan, was in fair condition Friday at Ben Taub General Hospital.

Myle's defense attorneys said he has a history of mental health issues.

"I don't want to go too much into that because we don't know what the results of those tests are going to be, but any time you have a lengthy documented mental health history, doing your job as any attorney you have to at least explore it and see where you go with that information later on," Myles attorney said.

Attorneys said Myles will undergo mental health testing, but did not give a timeline for when the evaluations would be conducted.