CHAPEL HILL, Tenn. -
A man arrested for decapitating his mother and poking out his stepfather's eyes was captured Thursday afternoon in Marshall County after escaping from a halfway house in Hickman County.
Kenneth Mallady is said to have left the supervised outpatient facility on July 26, however the facility did not report him missing until July 30.
He was apprehended while crossing the Duck River Bridge in Henry Horton State Park by Tennessee park rangers around 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
"I was coming through the park and had just received a [be on the lookout] come across the police scanner to treat this individual as possibly armed and dangerous," Chief Park Ranger Shane Petty said. "Just 30 seconds after I got that alert, I spotted the subject on the river bridge on Highway 31."
Ranger Petty said Mallady was wearing blue jeans and a flannel long sleeve t-shirt and was sweaty and dirty.
"I didn't want it to become a foot pursuit, so I stopped the individual before he got to the end of the bridge," Petty said. "He threatened to kill me."
Petty called for back up to help him arrest Mallady. He had to be pepper sprayed and tasered before he was taken into custody.
Deputies from Hickman County transported Mallady back to the Hickman County jail where the sheriff is working to find out if the Tennessee Mental Health Institute has room to admit him.
If the Nashville mental hospital does not have space, Mallady will be held in Hickman County until he can be admitted.
Mallady was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2003 for decapitating his mother and poking out the eyes of his stepfather and later diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic.
The judge in the case committed Mallady to the Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute. He remained there until April of 2010 when the CEO furloughed Mallady to a mandatory outpatient treatment program.
According to court documents, in August of 2010, the state asked a court to review Mallady's suitability to be sent to the facility.
Doctors and staff from MTMHI testified that his records showed steady improvement in his condition since arriving at the facility.
They also said he complied with all the doctors' instructions regarding his treatment.
Family members of Mallady asked the court to keep him confined to MTMHI. The court agreed, but let him remain in the outpatient facility as he appealed the decision.
He appealed to the circuit court of Hickman County in 2011.
In January 2012, the appellate court overturned the lower court's ruling and allowed Mallady to remain at Anne's Care Home.
The home, in a residential neighborhood, has six clients and four staff members who provided supervision 24 hours a day, according to court documents.
Attempts to reach the facility were unsuccessful.
Calls to the Middle Tennessee Mental Health Institute for comment were also not returned.
According to authorities, Mallady had not been taking his medication.
Thursday, Hannah Adams and her two-year-old daughter Maya were playing in the Henry Horton State Park not far from where Mallady was caught.
They did not see the arrest but knowing he was in the area still made Adams uneasy.
"That is scary, especially when you have a small kid, like I do," she said. "I have my two- year-old out here all the time so I'm glad they caught him."
In addition to charges for escaping the outpatient facility, Mallady faces criminal charges in Nashville.
Police said Mallady attacked a store owner as he tried to steal beer from the man's store on July 27.
He is charged with the assault and for failure to appear in Davidson County.
Kenneth Mallady (Courtesy: Facebook)
Kenneth Mallady (Courtesy: Marshall County Sheriff's Office)
Chief Park Ranger Shane Petty located Mallady on Thursday afternoon.
