'Captain America' Actress Won't Stand Trial for Allegedly Stabbing Mom Multiple Times

By Daniel S. Levine

Mollie Fitzgerald, the Captain America: The First Avenger actress who is accused of stabbing her mother in December 2020, will not stand trial. Her attorney, Jason Billam, told TMZ Sunday she was found incompetent to stand trial and will be returned to a state mental hospital for treatment. Fitzgerald, 38, was arrested in Kansas on Dec. 29 on charges of second-degree murder for allegedly stabbing her mother, Patricia Fitgerald, 68, on Dec. 20. The actress claimed self-defense, but investigators said evidence showed she was the aggressor.

Fitzgerald was found to lack competency to stand trial in late September, according to court documents obtained by TMZ. Her mental state will be revered every 90 days to see if she regained competency to stand trial, Billam said. Two of the three mental health doctors who examined Fitzgerald said she could not be helpful to her attorney in providing a defense. They said Fitzgerald does understand she is being charged with her mother's murder, and what the attorney, prosecutors, and judge have to do in the case. However, she is confused about the overall judicial process, the doctors said, Billam told TMZ.

On Dec. 20, police were called to an armed disturbance at a home in Olathe, Kansas, a Kansas City suburb. Patricia was found dead when officers arrived, reports the Kansas City Star. Fitzgerald was arrested on Dec. 29 and charged with second-degree murder. When she made her first court appearance, Fitzgerald told the judge she planned to represent herself in court, the Star reported at the time.

Fitzgerald claimed self-defense, but the medical examiner's autopsy found that the actress was the aggressor, according to court documents TMZ obtained in January. Fitzgerald told police she tried to disarm her mother and she stabbed her mother in the back four times during the struggle. Police found Patricia in a pool of blood and with the knife still in her back. The autopsy showed Patricia had "defensive injuries" as well as a nearly-severed thumb. She also had a bruised face, lip, and neck. Fitzgerald's injuries from the struggle included small cuts on her hands and a bite mark on her left bicep.

Fitzgerald had a small role in Captain America: The First Avenger as "Stark Girl" and was credited as an assistant to director Joe Johnston. She also directed and produced several short films. Fitzgerald's mother was in the process of moving back to the Kansas City area after living in Houston for several years, her brother Gary Hunziker told the Star.

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