DENVER -- A Denver judge said a 19-year-old woman accused of back-to-back killings earlier this year is incompetent to stand trial.

The preliminary ruling came Monday in the case of Amber Torrez, after psychiatrists at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo evaluated her.

Torrez is charged with first-degree murder in the March stabbing deaths of two men.

John Hand, 55, the founder of Colorado Free University was stabbed at least 30 times inside his own home. Mesfin Gezahgn, 45, was a Denver cab driver who was found dead the following day. He'd suffered at least 39 stab wounds.

Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter has until Jan. 4 to accept or reject the judge's finding. If Ritter rejects the ruling, he could argue that Torrez should stand trial or be re-evaluated.

Deputy District Attorney Kevin VanDonselaar said the incompetency ruling means Torrez isn't thinking clearly enough to assist in her own defense -- but that does not mean she is insane.

In addition to the murder charges, Torrez also faces charges of beating and robbing a man in Jefferson County. Authorities say she then doused the man with alcohol and threatened to set him on fire. That was two days before she allegedly killed Hand.

Torrez remains in custody in Pueblo at the Colorado Mental Health Institute. When she is ruled competent, she will stand trial.

Friends said that Torrez told them she was raped at the age of 16 and her throat was slit. The scar is visible in her police photo (pictured, above).

A relative said Torrez got into drugs after that incident and is a completely different person now than she was before she was allegedly raped.