BALTIMORE (Map, News) - The Columbia man who pleaded not criminally responsible to two homicide charges this past year will undergo a psychiatric evaluation, ruled Howard Circuit Judge Diane Leasure on Wednesday.

Attorney Mark Van Bavel filed the plea for Charles David Richardson, 24, who is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting to death store clerk Alevtina Zhilina, 40, of Columbia, during an attempted armed robbery April 26, 2007, at the 7-Eleven convenience store on Columbia Road.

“If the screener finds no basis for [Richardson being criminally responsible,] I then have the option of having him evaluated privately,” he said.

Van Bavel declined comment on whether Richardson has a history of mental illness.

If Richardson is found not criminally responsible, he could be incarcerated at the maximum-security Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup, Van Bavel said.

Richardson, wearing a gray jumpsuit, stood smiling as the hearing concluded and then placed his hands behind his back to be cuffed.

Richardson also was charged in a second murder less than a month later when police found the body of Trae Davon Allen, 19, of Columbia, inside Richardson’s town house on Brook Way in Columbia, which is across the street from the 7-Eleven.

Police linked Richardson to both slayings using information from witnesses who had been at a gathering at Richardson’s town house where Allen’s body was later found.

A resident told police they overheard Richardson say, “If the [expletive] would have just given me money, I wouldn’t have had to pop her ...,” according to charging documents.

 Richardson was arrested in May 2007 during a traffic stop on Route 40 in Ellicott City.

According to court records, Richardson has an extensive criminal record.

Charges of armed robbery and first-degree assault at the same 7-Eleven where Zhilina was shot and killed were dropped against him in 2006 because of insufficient evidence.

His trial is scheduled for May 27 in Howard Circuit Court.

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com