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LAS CRUCES — Former Mayfield High School basketball standout Carissa McGee today was declared competent to stand trial on charges that she stabbed her mother and sister during a fit of rage.

However, the 17-year-old girl may not see a courtroom because negotiations have begun for a possible plea agreement, which could make McGee eligible for sentence as a juvenile. Details of the deal weren't disclosed.

McGee did not appear before state District Judge Robert Robles when defense attorney Rory Rank disclosed results of a psychological evaluation.

"We're confident that Carissa McGee is competent to stand trial," Rank said.

He said he plans to present McGee with details of the proposed plea deal next week at Children's Psychiatric Hospital in Albuquerque, where she has been held since November.

Change-of-plea and amenable-to-treatment hearings have been scheduled for June 1 and June 4. An amenable-to-treatment hearing is held when a juvenile pleads to crimes that are eligible for an adult sentence.

Previously, a Children's Court judge entered a not-guilty plea for McGee and ordered her held after determining she was a risk to herself and others.

If McGee accepts the agreement, Robles will decide how she will be sentenced. If she declines, a trial date will be set within six months.

According to court documents, the alleged attack occurred March 27, 2006, after McGee argued with her mother over a relationship the star athlete had with an Albuquerque woman. Former Sandia standout guard Martina Holloway told The Tribune that her relationship with McGee caused friction in the McGee family.

McGee's mother, Anita, and sister Marie, then 17 and also a Mayfield basketball player, were taken to Thomason Hospital in El Paso, Texas. Anita McGee was stabbed 20 times and Marie 15. Both recovered. Marie now plays basketball for the University of Arizona.

Those who knew the charismatic, talented McGee say the attack was out of character for a girl considered harmless around the Mayfield campus. Before the incident, the basketball standout had schools such as UCLA and Arizona State recruiting her.

Friends from high school say Carissa and Marie were friends until the 2005-06 basketball season, when the two hardly talked.