New evaluation ordered for woman suspected of starting Fawn Fire

The Bay Area woman who’s charged with starting the Fawn Fire north of Redding last fall was back in Shasta County Superior Court on Thursday morning.

Gregg Cohen, the attorney for 31-year-old Alexandra Souverneva, agreed she’s been restored to competency, but told the court he now wants her reevaluated to see if she’s competent to stand trial.

In December, Souverneva was placed into the custody of the California Department of State Hospitals so she could undergo competency training. She is no longer in custody and appeared in court Thursday from the audience.

The Shasta County District Attorney’s Office previously said the goal of the training is to "restore a defendant to competency to stand trial."

Judge Adam Ryan on Thursday granted Cohen’s request for the supplemental evaluation. One of Souverneva’s previous psychologists was assigned to do the report and a hearing was set for April 7 to consider it.

“She (Souverneva) was previously declared incompetent by the court. When that happens, the court suspends criminal proceedings and she’s supposed to be restored to competency in a kind of a state-approved competency-based program,” Cohen said outside court.

Cohen said there’s a penal code provision that allows him to give his opinion that his client is once again competent “or she is functioning as a competent individual who can stand trial.”

“So, with that the court agreed to have her reevaluated by one of the psychologists who evaluated her previously. That report is coming back April 7,” Cohen said. “I expect that report to say that she is, in fact, competent and criminal proceedings can be reinstated.”

Souverneva, who was previously listed as from Palo Alto, pleaded not guilty Sept. 24 to charges of starting the 8,578-acre Fawn Fire about 10 miles north of Redding.

Souverneva is charged with arson in a forestland with an enhancement of allegedly committing an arson during a state of emergency, the DA's office has said.

When the Fawn Fire started Sept. 22, it received the highest firefighting priority in the nation by the National Interagency Fire Center due to extremely dry conditions, the "extreme fire behavior" and its threat to both the community and the thousands of homes in the Redding area.

The blaze destroyed 185 buildings and injured three firefighters before it was contained Oct. 2.

The morning the Fawn Fire started, an employee of the J.F. Shea Quarry in Mountain Gate reported seeing a woman trespassing on the company's property, according to a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection investigative report.

The woman, later identified as Souverneva, allegedly ignored warnings that she was not allowed on the property and continued walking into the trees and brush in the area, the report said.

When asked by officers why she was on the quarry property, she allegedly told them she had been hiking and was trying to get to Canada, according to the report. Along the way, she said she became thirsty and found a puddle of water that she believed was bear urine, according to the report.

Souverneva told officers she unsuccessfully tried to filter the water with a teabag, according to the narrative. She then attempted to make a fire to boil the water but found it was "too wet for the fire to start," the report says.

According to the report, "she said she drank the water anyway and then continued walking uphill from the creek bed," where she saw smoke and airplanes "dropping pink stuff."

After that, Souverneva got stuck in the brush and ultimately contacted fire department personnel to help her, the report says.

When she was contacted by Cal Fire officer Matt Alexander, he asked Souverneva to empty her pockets and fanny pack, which contained CO2 cartridges, a cigarette lighter and an item "containing a green, leafy substance she admitted to smoking that day," according to the officer's filing.

Record Searchlight reporter Michele Chandler contributed to this report.

Mike Chapman is an award-winning reporter and photographer for the Record Searchlight in Redding, Calif. His newspaper career spans Yreka and Eureka in Northern California and Bellingham, Wash. Support local journalism by subscribing today.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: New evaluation ordered for woman suspected of starting Fawn Fire