Suspect in Texas deputy death ruled incompetent

February 5, 2013 @ 7:25 am

TEXARKANA, Texas (AP) - A Texas man accused of fatally shooting a sheriff's deputy at a county courthouse has been ruled incompetent to stand trial.

Tucker Strickland is charged with capital murder in the 2011 slaying of 54-year-old deputy Sherri Jones.

State District Judge Leon Pesek Monday ordered the 23-year-old Strickland confined to a state mental hospital until he's competent to be tried.

Authorities say the Texarkana man overpowered Jones as she accompanied him to a competency hearing at the Bowie County courthouse where he was accused of assaulting his mother. Prosecutors say Strickland took Jones' gun and shot her in the head.

Strickland fled in a county transport van and was captured about 30 minutes later in Arkansas.

Strickland is held in the Fannin County Jail in Bonham under $3 million bond.


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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