A King County Superior Court judge found a Federal Way man accused of stabbing his girlfriend more than 100 times not guilty by reason of insanity on Sept. 9.

Kenneth “Kenny” Mace was charged with first-degree murder in July 2012 for killing Melinda “Mindy” O’Meara, 20. Since then, he’s been in confinement on $2 million bail.

After nine months of mental health treatment at Western State Hospital, a judge found Mace competent to stand trial on July 16, 2014.

A non-jury trial was held on Sept. 9 with Judge Patrick Oishi, who found Mace a “substantial danger to other persons” and has a likelihood of committing criminal acts that will jeopardize public safety if not kept under control by the court, specifically a state mental hospital.

The court committed Mace to the Secretary of the Department of Social and Health Services for hospitalization that will care for the treatment of the criminally insane. The judge also ordered Mace cannot have contact with O’Meara’s family while committed.

Two of the victim’s best friends filed statements explaining what it meant to lose their friend.

“Losing her hit me much deeper than I could have ever imagined,” O’Meara’s friend Melanie wrote. “I was about to start my junior year of college in Arkansas, but knowing that I had to leave my neighborhood to go back to school just about tore me apart. I was sick with confusion, worry and guilt.”

O’Meara died on July 6 at the Camelot Square Mobile Home Park just north of Federal Way from stabs wounds in nearly all vital organs.

O’Meara was a 2009 graduate of Decatur High School while Mace was a 2001 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School.

According to court documents, a neighbor called 911 the day O’Meara died to report the stabbing. The neighbor told police he was in his living room when Mace walked into his house through an unlocked door. He was distraught and on the verge of tears.

Mace asked to borrow the phone to call 911 because he thought someone was about to kill his wife. O’Meara and Mace were not married but were dating.

As the neighbor spoke to 911 dispatch, Mace said “I stabbed her,” according to court documents.

After calling for help, the neighbor flagged down a passing security officer, who detained Mace in handcuffs in the back of his vehicle.

When police arrived, Mace told them a knife was “on the floor next to the one she came at me with.”

Officers found O’Meara face down surrounded by blood. There were signs of struggle.

In a police interview, Mace later disclosed that he had returned home from work and was going to take a shower when O’Meara “started talking in demon talk.”

He alleged she came at him with a knife and he threw a large glass marijuana bong at her head in order to grab the knife away from her. But after that, he promptly blacked out. He claims to have no memory of what happened next.

Mace admitted to using marijuana, heroin, OxyContin and other opiate drugs. After his arrest, a drug recognition expert detected a distinct odor on Mace commonly associated with methamphetamine use. His pupils were also constricted, a sign of someone “coming down” from the drug.

According to Mace’s mother, she and his family members tried to convince him to get counseling. A week before the murder, Mace had walked in on O’Meara’s family, who were trying to move her out of their home. Mace’s mother said after that day, something “snapped” and his mental state wasn’t the same. His emails were even different.

O’Meara’s friends were concerned about her relationship with Mace long before the time of the murder.

Friend Melanie called Mace “controlling” in her statement and even feared that a text she sent to O’Meara inviting her to get lunch is what may have sparked an argument between the two.

Friend Trisha said, “The thought that Kenny could ever be out in the community again scares me and frustrates me more than I can even describe. After seeing what he is capable of, who is to say that if he is ever back out in society that he won’t come after Mindy’s loved ones who tried to tell her that she deserved better than him?”

Trisha said she’s fearful for the next woman who could be Mace’s victim.

“We have been told that this is a rare case because it is unusual for someone’s first psychotic break to be so violent,” she said. “It scares me to think that another unsuspecting woman could fall victim to his manipulative ways and that his next psychotic break could be worse and more violent than what he did to Mindy.”

To establish the defense of insanity, Mace’s lawyers had to show that during the offense he suffered a mental disease, a mental defect or his mind was affected to the point he was unable to perceive the nature and quality of the act or he was unable to tell right from wrong with reference to the charge. Also, the defense of insanity had to be established as a preponderance of the evidence, meaning it was required that more than 50 percent of the evidence pointed to insanity.

Mace may be committed for up to the maximum amount of time he could have been sentenced for first-degree murder, which is life imprisonment.