Missouri’s competency-to-stand-trial system has become so overloaded that even people accused of low-level crimes now wait years for effective treatment. Most defendants bide their time in county jails that sheriffs acknowledge aren’t equipped to meet mental health needs.

As a young girl growing up in Missouri, Megan Jolly loved to read, dance and dress up. For her 20th birthday, she and her mother wore formal gowns to dinner on a cruise ship to Cozumel, Mexico.

She pursued an advanced degree in political science. Family said she became a cybersecurity expert and settled into a meticulously decorated home in Lake St. Louis.

"She had great aspirations," her mother, Sharyn Jolly, told The Marshall Project - St. Louis. "I don't know what happened."

Megan Jolly started racking up mental he

See Full Page