Md. Inmate Found Not Competent For Trial In Prison Slaying
CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) -- A state prison inmate has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial for the 2013 beating death of his cellmate at the maximum-security Western Correctional Institution near Cumberland.
Thirty-six-year-old Darnell Thompson had a competency hearing Tuesday in Cumberland. He is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of 29-year-old Jason Wallace.
Wallace was found unconscious in his cell during an inmate recreational period. Prosecutors say a state police detective who interviewed Thompson questioned his competency. The state's attorney's office requested a psychological evaluation, which concluded Thompson was incompetent.
He'll receive treatment and have another review in 12 months.
Online court records show that Thompson was sentenced to eight years in 2011 in Howard County for assaulting a law-enforcement officer.
State police say Wallace was serving time for robbery.
(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)