July 24 (UPI) — A Kentucky psychiatric report released Wednesday found that a man accused of killing two people at a Kroger grocery store in a racially fueled shooting is now competent to stand trial, three months after a judge sent the man to a psychiatric center.
Prosecutors said the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center found Gregory Bush ready to stand trial for allegedly killing Maurice Stallard, 69, and Vickie Lee Jones, 67, and injuring a third person in October. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, one count of criminal attempted murder and two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment at the state level, and three hate crime charges and three gun charges at the federal level.
Prior to carrying out the shooting at the grocery store Bush allegedly attempted to enter the First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown, whose congregation is predominantly black, and witnesses said he told another man at the scene “whites don’t kill whites” before he was arrested.
In May, Jefferson Circuit Judge Annie O’Connell ordered Bush to be held at the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center and be medicated for 60 days. O’Connell said she’ll review the psychiatric report and rule about Bush’s competency on Oct. 31.
