A South End man was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation following his arraignment on charges that he fatally beat Nouri Ech-Cherqui during a dispute in their Huntington Avenue rooming house this summer, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

Suffolk Superior Court Judge Linda Giles committed BRENDAN JOHNSON (D.O.B. 5/25/80) to Bridgewater State Hospital for a competency and criminal responsibility evaluation in connection with the manslaughter charges he faces for Ech-Cherqui’s death.

Earlier in the day, Assistant District Attorney Julie Higgins of Conley’s Senior Trial Unit told Clerk Magistrate Connie Wong that Ech-Cherqui had been involved in a dispute with another resident of 270 Huntington Ave. on Aug. 27 but had ended it and walked away from that man.

“Mr. Johnson, a witness to that disturbance, became upset,” Higgins said. “He went after the deceased and struck him in the head. The deceased hit a door, fell to the floor, and didn’t get back up.”

Ech-Cherqui was transported to Brigham and Women’s Hospital later the same day. He died a day later of blunt force trauma to the head, including what Higgins called “an eight-centimeter fracture to the back of his skull.”

Johnson was indicted Friday after a four-month investigation in the Suffolk County Grand Jury. Boston Police took him into custody on Saturday.

Johnson is represented by attorney Robert Zanello. He will return to court on Jan. 7.