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HAMILTON — The trial of a Middletown man accused of stabbing the mother of one of his two young children and snatching his sons is scheduled to begin Wednesday in Butler County Common Pleas Court.

Julius Crossty III, 33, formerly of Yankee Road, is charged with three counts of attempted murder and one count of felonious assault. He is accused of stabbing Carlena Reese of Hamilton on the night of Nov. 28, an attack that sparked an AMBER Alert.

Crossty's trial was scheduled to begin in June before Judge Noah Powers, but that court date was vacated after the prosecution filed a motion suggesting the defendant was incompetent to stand trial.

John Heinkel, assistant county prosecutor, said he received information that called into question the defendant's competency and that he may not fully understand the nature of the charges against him.

Mark Hardig, Crossty's attorney, objected to the motion, noting there was no indication his client was incompetent.

Powers postponed the trial and ordered Crossty to undergo a psychological evaluation. Two weeks later, following an evaluation, he was found to be competent to stand trial.

A new trial date of Sept. 12 was set by the judge, but continued a second time after a pretrial conference with the attorneys.

According to Middletown police, Reese was found bleeding in an upstairs bedroom by Crossty's brother, who called police when he learned that Crossty had left with his sons, ages 8 and 9. The boys were found safe by Middletown police on Nov. 29, but the vehicle driven by Crossty was found rigged for carbon-monoxide poisoning and a house where Crossty took the boys was filled with natural gas, police said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2168 or lpack@coxohio.com.