A District Judge ordered a mental exam this morning for a 27-year-old Kalihi man accused of killing his mother with a knife.

Public Defender W. Bagasol made the request during Charlie D. Hernane made his initial court appearance before District Judge Leslie Hayashi. Hernane’s case was continued for 30 days while the examination is conducted.

Hernane is charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his mother at their Eluwene Street home Wednesday.

Bagasol told the court that he had a hard time interviewing Hernane about the charges and said he is not sure what Filipino dialect the suspect speaks.

Hernane, 27, is being held on $100,000 bail.

A niece checking on her aunt found the body of Teresita Hernane, 56. There was a cut on her head and Hernane was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday, police said.

Police arrested Charlie Hernane nearby at Kalakaua Gym about 11:40 a.m.

Family members said the victim was separated from her husband and adopted the suspect, a relative of her husband, in the Philippines. The two came to Hawaii in 1994 where Charlie Hernane attended Farrington High School but dropped out. He returned to the Philippines for a time to undergo drug rehabilitation, family members said. After he came back to Honolulu, he lived in a room with his mother, who was frail with kidney problems, family members said.