HUNTINGTON, W. Va. — The suspect in a January Cabell County double homicide has been ruled mentally competent and will be put on trial.
Rodney Bruce Black, 63, of Barboursville, is accused in the shooting deaths of Garrick Hopkins, 60, of Milton, and his brother Carl Hopkins Jr., 61, of Oak Hill.
Circuit Judge Paul T. Farrell Monday presented the report of competency from the William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital in Weston, which evaluated Black would be able to assist attorneys leading up to the trail. Both sides agreed this did not determine Black’s thought process leading up to the shooting.
The court documents charging Black with two counts of murder allege that on January 25, the Hopkins brothers approached a shed on the property Garrick and his wife had recently purchased along Old Crow Drive when Black spotted the two, grabbed his rifle and shot the two through his window.
The property was previously owned by Black’s mother Juanita, given to Black after her passing and was administered by his sister Judy Ranson who sold the property to Hopkins through the Old Colony real estate company.
In Black’s home, authorities found the rifle believed to be used in the shooting along with 54 other firearms and a significant amount of ammunition after a search warrant was executed.
Black was transferred to Sharpe Hospital by Judge Farrell in April for treatment after it was revealed he had a history of mental health issues spanning multiple decades.
Farrell scheduled both sides to return to court on January 5, 2015.
The case is also the subject a wrongful death lawsuit against Black, Ranson and Old Colony.