Judge to determine if man convicted in 2017 shooting death of Broadwater Deputy is mentally competent

A state district judge heard testimony Monday on whether the man convicted in the 2017 killing of a Broadwater County Deputy is mentally competent to stand trial. Last year, a jury found Lloyd Barrus guilty of deliberate homicide in the shooting in which his son is believed to have fired the first fatal shot, before Barrus fired at least a dozen more rounds. The judge will determine whether to find him “guilty but mentally ill,” a choice that could decide whether he spends his sentence in a state prison or the state hospital.
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