Competency Of Assisted Living Shooting Suspect Okey Payne Questioned

(CBS4/AP) - A judge in Boulder County has paused court proceedings against Okey Payne, a 95-year-old man charged with killing a maintenance worker at his assisted living center, so he can undergo an evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial. The crime took place in the lobby of Legacy Assisted Living in Lafayette.

The Daily Camera reports that attorneys filed a motion on April 26 to have Okey Payne's competency evaluated and a judge ordered a mental health stay on the case in the meantime.

If Payne is found incompetent, proceedings would continue to be delayed until he can be restored to competency or the judge rules that he is unlikely to ever be able to stand trial.

Payne is charged with shooting employee Ricardo Medina-Rojas in the head. Investigators say Payne believed Medina-Rojas and other workers at Legacy Assisted Living were stealing money from him. He also thought staff were drugging him.

(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)