Evie Amati Convicted of Ax Attack After Jurors Reject Transgender Medication Defense

Evie Amati was convicted of attacking several people with an ax in Australia. (NSW District Court)

Evie Amati, who injured several people in an ax attack last year, was convicted of attempted murder after a jury rejected claims that Amati suffered a psychotic break caused by medications that are used to transition from male to female.

Amati, 26, was found guilty on Aug. 3 for the 2017 attack in Sydney, Australia, the BBC reported. The attack was totally unprovoked, said officials.

The sentencing phase of the trial will start in September 2018.

In the incident, Amati was seen on video walking inside a 7-Eleven store carrying an ax at around 2 a.m. Then, Amati walked up to a man waiting in line, talked to him, and then swung an ax at him. The man, identified as Ben Rimmer, fell to the ground with a facial wound and fractures.

“I really hope that [Amati] is able to have some sort of rehabilitation because ultimately that’s what justice is about,” Sharon Hacker, a victim who suffered a fractured skull in the attack, told Australia’s ABC.

Hacker was attacked near the door, according to the broadcaster. Amati attacked a third man, who was able to protect himself with a backpack.

Amati was later arrested outside the store.

Amati pleaded not guilty to the charges. Amati claimed mental illness that was triggered by hormone medication, marijuana, amphetamines, and alcohol during the time of the incident, according to the Australia Broadcasting Corporation.

In July, the 26-year-old allegedly wrote a disturbing social media post that “most people deserve to die ... one day I’m going to kill a lot of people,” according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

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“Humans are only able to destroy, to hate, so that is what I shall do,” Amati also reportedly wrote.

Amati’s lawyer said that he began taking hormones in 2012 to transition to a woman, saying the drugs had an effect. In 2015, Amati’s mental state deteriorated after undergoing surgery in Thailand to complete the transition, according to the Morning Herald. Visions, hallucinations, and suicidal and homicidal thoughts became commonplace after the surgery, the lawyer stated.