The daughter of a woman who was dragged 300 feet during a hit-and-run is calling on Colorado lawmakers for change after the case for the former suspect accused of killing her mother was dismissed due to competency issues.  

Joel Lang, 41, was facing homicide charges related to the death of Kristy Kerst, 47, on Nov. 4. According to court records, Lang struck Kerst’s vehicle while leaving a McDonald’s in Monument. When Kerst and a family member hopped out of the car to confront Lang, he allegedly fled, running over Kerst and dragging her underneath his vehicle.

According to his arrest affidavit, Lang told investigators after being detained that he knew she was under the vehicle and that the “continual driving and dragging” of Kerst would kill her. 

Fatal hit-and-run suspect ruled incompetent to stand trial over childhood brain injury

“I, personally, am terrified. My sense of safety has been shattered not only because of what happened to my mom, but also knowing that her killer is out there,” said Britany Visage.

During multiple court hearings, it was revealed Lang suffered a brain injury that affected his cognitive function when he was 5 years old. Two mental health evaluators called to the stand by the prosecution and defense respectively said Lang was incompetent to stand trial, noting there’s a chance he could be restored, but it would be difficult. 

Despite this, 4th Judicial District Judge Samuel Evig ruled on June 30 that Lang is incompetent to stand trial, and that he is not restorable, saying the difference between it being “possible” and “substantially likely” for restoration is “as wide as a gulf.”

“It (the ruling) was really devastating and heartbreaking, and, honestly, kind of disgusting. This is a man in his own words saying, ‘I know I hit her, I knew I was dragging her, I just had to get out of there,'” Visage said. 

Visage and other families who had violent criminal cases dismissed due to competency rulings have created a petition calling for legislation surrounding competency in court to be amended or repealed.

With the help of organizers from Colorado Parents Advocacy Group, Visage and other families took to the Colorado Court of Appeals in Denver Tuesday to demand lawmakers make a change to House Bill 24-1034 and other related legislation to adult competency to stand trial.

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Per HB24-1034, a case must be dismissed if there isn’t a “substantial probability” that the defendant could attain competency with the help of restoration services within the “reasonably foreseeable future.” 

“I’m not a lawyer, and I don’t have education in the justice system. But as a citizen, what does ‘reasonably foreseeable future’ mean?” she said. “That can mean something completely different to me than it does a judge.”

John Kellner, a former district attorney for Arapahoe County, wrote an opinion piece published in The Gazette about competency in the judicial system, saying the Lang case exposes a “glaring hole” in state law.

He told The Gazette in an interview that Colorado law needs to change so that it’s not an automatic dismissal when someone is deemed incompetent and can’t be restored for the “foreseeable future.” Instead, Kellner wants to see a judge have a “range of options” to decide what’s appropriate for a case.

But an issue is the lack of bedding and other resources to house people who need restoration, according to the former district attorney.

“The real answer here is that we need to seriously expand access to mental health resources, and that includes expanding the Colorado state mental health hospitals so they have more in-patient beds for defendants deemed incompetent,” Kellner said.   

In his opinion piece, Kellner criticizes HB 24-1034, saying it pushes more incompetent defendants out of jail into outpatient facilities to help ease the backlog. 

Elijah Caudill, 24, was released from jail in Denver in November 2024 with the assistance of a state program designed to connect offenders with outpatient mental health services. Two months after his release, he was accused of stabbing four people over two days in downtown Denver. Two people were killed.

Kellner points to this example as one of many as to how current laws make Colorado less safe.

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“The push among state lawmakers is trying to get more people out of custody. That’s a reaction because we don’t have enough in-custody beds. So, you see (lawmakers) taking a much greater risk by releasing them,” Kellner said. “It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a bullet wound.” 

While Visage said losing her mom has been the most difficult event she’s experienced in her life, standing up for the injustice has been easy because of the community support in Colorado Springs.

But she hasn’t been feeling that same support up north in the halls of the Capitol. 

“I have been very disappointed so far,” Visage said of Gov. Jared Polis.

To Visage, the governor has just been “piggybacking” on statements from 4th District Attorney Michael Allen, who has been vocal about a need for change. 

“He’s been trying to push this narrative that he’s passing (other) laws like gun laws to make Colorado safer, and I appreciate those things, (but) it feels like a slap in the face because he’s not talking about what we want to talk about,” Visage said.

Allen commented on the Lang case at the time of the ruling, blaming state lawmakers and Polis for its outcome. He said in a news release that current competency legislation is a “tangled statutory web” that lets people deemed incompetent who are charged with murder, no matter how “depraved and evil” the crime, to walk free.