A white man, accused of murdering two Black senior citizens in a racially-motivated hate crime last year, has been deemed incompetent for trial.
As Blavity reported, Gregory Bush pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and six counts of a hate crime in November. Specifically, the hate crimes include shooting and killing based on victims' race, attempting to shoot another victim based on race and additional firearm counts related to the murder charges.
Bush is accused of targeting and killing two Black senior citizens and attempting to kill another in a Kroger grocery store in Kentucky on October 24, 2018. The list of victims includes Vickie Lee Jones, a 67-year-old woman and Maurice Stallard, a 69-year-old grandfather who was shopping with his 12-year-old grandson at the time of the shooting.
Now, WPSD Local 6 reports the 51-year-old is considered too mentally unstable to stand trial. However, the judge is only temporarily halting the process.
Kentucky state law demands that every defendant must be coherent to assist their defense team throughout the process, the Courier-Journal reported. If a person is not deemed emotionally or mentally stable, they must undergo several evaluations before moving forward.
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On May 9, Judge O'Connell ordered Bush to 60 days of forced medication and mental care in the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center.
Psychiatric Dr. Tim Allen testified that they believe Bush will be well enough to combat his criminal charges soon after the treatment. A follow-up hearing has therefore been scheduled for July 24.
The horrific incident took place in Jeffersontown and reportedly occurred after Bush attempted to shoot up a local Black church, as Blavity reported. The building's doors were locked following church service after a parishioner grew suspicious of the man in their parking lot. Following several attempts to find an opening, the alleged murderer purportedly drove off to the local shopping store where he shot one victim in the store and the other in the parking lot.
As the accused killer fled the scene, a witness reported that he ran into Bush and was preparing to defend himself when he and his child were told, “whites don’t kill whites.”
Bush currently faces life in prison or the death penalty.
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