Area slaying suspect ruled incompetent

8/12/2004

NAPOLEON - A man facing capital murder charges for the shooting death of his father has been ruled incompetent to stand trial in Henry County Common Pleas Court.

Judge Keith Muehlfeld this week ordered that Damien Jenkins, who was 21 at the time of the June, 2000, crime, must undergo an evaluation at the Timothy B. Moritz Forensic Unit in Columbus, a maximum security facility.

County Prosecutor John Hanna said yesterday that Mr. Jenkins will be at the forensic unit for no more than a year, with an evaluation due to his office in six months.

The trial for Mr. Jenkins has been postponed repeatedly, with a third set of defense attorneys now assigned to the case. Mr. Jenkins had most recently asked to represent himself in trial.

He's charged with aggravated murder in the death of Ernest Jenkins, 45. The elder Mr. Jenkins was found in the parking lot of the Riverview Estates apartment complex where he lived.