A Nashville man, accused of attacking a Chinese exchange student with a hatchet, has been found not guilty by reason of insanity. Network Indiana is reporting that 61-year-old Dana Ericson testified that he even though he told police he wanted to “kill evil” when he attacked 18-year-old Yue Zhang, of China, that he was in a psychotic state, and wanted nothing to do with racial hatred. According to the report, Ericson’s 100-year-old mother testified that she had seen her son in that state before, noting that it started with euphoria and ended with mania.

Zhang, who was attending Brown County High School at the time, did not testify because she is back in China. She did send testimony deposition. She was taking pictures downtown when she was attacked. Authorities say the attack bloodied her and left her without full use of an arm for several weeks.

Network Indiana says that Ericson will be held until a commitment hearing.