Judge orders third competency hearing for Gavin Perkins

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The Kentucky Attorney General’s office will attempt to try a man a third time for murdering his mother.

Gavin Perkins has been found unfit to stand trial twice.

He was arraigned Monday, July 3 on a new murder charge.

Perkins attorney said the waitlist to be seen by the state is at least a year long.

She said Perkins will not likely be found competent to stand trial.

This is the third time Perkins has been charged with killing his mother.

He was indicted by a grand jury a few weeks ago after his siblings had asked the Attorney General’s office to take the case.

They did so after the Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Office said they had reached their limit on keeping Perkins in a state mental facility.

A WAVE Troubleshooter investigation found Perkins was nearing release because state laws meant to keep him locked up potentially didn’t apply to him.

Perkins was arrested at the state mental hospital in LaGrange following his indictment.

He’s been incarcerated since on a $500,000 bond, but his attorney said that’s way too much and wants it reduced.

“His bond is unreasonably high,” Public Defender Sheila Seadler said. “He comes back as a low, he scores zero for a risk of criminal activity, and a zero for risk for failure to appear, the bond set by a grand jury is unreasonably high, as Mr. Perkins has no money to hire counsel.”

The judge denied Seadler’s motion to reduce Perkins’ bond right now but scheduled a hearing in late July to take it up again.

It’s not clear at this point whether Perkins could move ahead of the line to determine if he can stand trial for murder.

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