The father of a 4-month-old girl who was charged with second-degree murder after police found the baby dead June 23 under a blanket at her Auburn home is still waiting to get into Western State Hospital for his court-ordered, pre-trial competency hearing.

At 34-year-old Lee Mason Dupay’s arraignment July 11, his lawyer raised the issue of his competency to stand trial, so the court ordered the evaluation and set a competency return hearing for Aug. 17.

The baby’s mother, Mariah Leshay Phillips, 24, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder at her July 11 arraignment. She has a case setting hearing at 1 p.m. Monday at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.

Shortly after 5:45 a.m. on June 23, Auburn Police found the baby in the 1400 block of 17th Street Southeast, unconscious, not breathing and cold to the touch. She also displayed obvious signs of severe malnourishment, including a protruding rib cage, and had unexplained injuries under her chin. Although Valley Com had directed her parents to begin and continue CPR until police and the Valley Regional Fire Authority arrived, when firefighters got there, they pronounced the baby dead.

According to the police report: “The child appeared to be extremely malnourished, as her rib cage was clearly visible, along with the separation line of her stomach muscles, and her stomach was distended. The child’s legs contained no ‘baby fat …’ and the muscles and bones were clearly visible. ‘Baby fat’ typically located on an infant’s thighs and arms were absent and replaced with sagging skin.”

Police later arrested Dupay and Phillips, and detectives took protective custody of the couple’s 2-year-old twin daughters and turned them over to Child Protective Services.