Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503130055
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge John Ferguson asked for the tests Friday to determine if Kenneth M. Morris is competent to stand trial on a murder charge, according to Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ann Gardner.
Morris is accused of killing 70-year-old Geneva Weatherford in her apartment at the Lansdowne public-housing development the weekend of Feb. 11. He had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing Monday in juvenile court, but the hearing has been continued to April 20 to allow more time for the mental evaluation.
In addition to requesting the evaluation, Assistant Public Defender Marian Kelley had asked the judge to bar news cameras from the hearing. Ferguson denied that motion.
Kelley could not be reached for comment Friday.
Weatherford and Morris, 32, had frequent bouts, neighbors have said. Police said they responded to a disturbance at the apartment Feb. 5, one week before Weatherford was killed.
A call from a neighbor led police back to the apartment the following week, and they found Weatherford lying face down on the living room floor, covered with trash. An autopsy determined she had been dead for at least a day.
Morris was in the apartment when police arrived. He was arrested and has been held in the Roanoke City Jail ever since.
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by CNB