Suspect In Centennial Shooting Formally Charged

ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - The man accused of injuring two women and killing a man when he went on a shooting rampage Monday was back in court Friday where he was formally charged.

Deputies arrested Kevin Lyons Monday afternoon in his Centennial neighborhood after police claim he shot several people.

Witnesses say he shot at his wife first then turned the gun on two of his neighbors, injuring one and killing the other, Dr. Kenneth Atkinson.

Lyons was formally charged with 14 counts, including first-degree murder.

Lyons' state of mind has become a question since his outbursts during his initial court appearance earlier this week. At that hearing, Lyons insisted that his arrest affidavit be made public, which the judge denied, and when he tried to speak to media Thursday night from jail, his attorneys and the judge jumped into action.

The defense team for Lyons then filed an emergency order, keeping him from speaking out about what happened.

Judge Carlos Samour, who also oversaw the trial of James Holmes, signed off on the defense's request to put things on hold. Their motion specifically asks for time to investigate whether or not the defendant is in fact competent to stand trial.

That order will stay for a while while the defense continues their investigation.

Lyons was more subdued in court on Friday morning. He still has his public defenders but exclaimed in court a couple of times, "You're not my attorney." At one point Lyons tried to get Judge Samour's attention but he largely ignored him.

The issue of the crime scene was addressed in court. There was a court order on behalf of the defense to leave the crime scene intact but investigators inadvertently released the crime scene. Now the defense has concerns there were alterations made to the property.

"Through some email snafu of one way or another, that message didn't get adequately conveyed to the investigator on the case and then the scene, which is pretty routine, was released prematurely," said Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler. "I just thought it was important in the interest of transparency and fairness that we come forward and tell the court, we made a mistake on an email and that mistake resulted in this and that's what we did today."

Brauchler isn't sure how this will impact the case. Lyons next court appearance is scheduled for April 13 where a preliminary hearing will be set.