HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A Cabell County circuit judge ruled Thursday a Mingo County man is competent to stand trial in the 2013 shooting death of former Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum.
Tennis Maynard, of Delbarton, has been treated at Sharpe Hospital in Weston. Cabell County Circuit Judge Paul Farrell recently received a report that said there was progress in Maynard’s condition. The judge held a hearing Thursday and ruled Maynard competent. He ruled in 2015 that Maynard wasn’t competent.
According to investigators, Sheriff Crum was eating lunch in his cruiser in a Williamson parking lot in April 2013 when Maynard shot him. He was chased down a short time later. A clear motive for the shooting has never been revealed.
The Kanawha County Prosecutor’s Office was appointed to case not long after Maynard was charged. Prosecutor Chuck Miller said Thursday his office would be ready to try the case although the time lapse would present some challenges.
“Memory fades and sometimes evidence is lost, misplaced or you have to go back out and look again but it doesn’t mean the case can’t be prosecuted,” Miller said.
The veteran prosecutor said he expects an insanity defense from Maynard’s lawyers.
“Competency is an issue as to whether or not you can stand trial while insanity goes to your state of mind at the time of the commission of the crime,” Miller said. “So there are two different standards.”