Lawyer for accused Gray Highway killer seeks to have client declared incompetent

More than three years after a Jones County woman was shot to death outside a Gray Highway gas station, a lawyer representing her alleged killer is asking a judge to declare his client incompetent to stand trial.

At issue is whether 76-year-old Frank Reeves is able to understand the charges against him and legal proceedings in his case, as well as help with his defense, said Rick Waller, Reeves' court-appointed attorney.

Authorities said Reeves told them he thought 65-year-old Linda Hunnicutt was trying to hit him with her car Dec. 4, 2012, and he only meant to scare her when he fired his gun. The bullet struck Hunnicutt in the chest and she died.

If a judge grants the request, Reeves will be moved from the Bibb County jail to a secure health care facility, where he'll receive treatment with the goal of restoring his competency, Waller said.

"It's not a get-out-of-jail-free card," he said.

Reeves, who'd suffered multiple strokes before his arrest, has been moved from the jail to a local hospital four times during his incarceration, according to the Bibb County Sheriff's Office.

Frank Dixon, Reeves' son, said his family had hoped that the case would have gone to trial before now, but they also want to ensure that Reeves' rights are protected.

Asked about the pending motion, he said, "We want what's best for him. ... There's no win to this. Even if he clears his name, he's at an age where his health is deteriorating."

The case stalled in fall 2014 after Reeves' former attorney, Veronica Brinson, was removed from the case by Judge Howard Simms after Simms deemed her representation of Reeves "ineffective."

Despite Waller's appointment to the case, Brinson continued to file court documents on Reeves' behalf after she was ordered not to.

Brinson has said she filed the documents to try to preserve Reeves' rights.

After listening to testimony during a hearing, Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit Senior Judge John D. Allen found Brinson guilty of three counts of contempt of court. Her case has been appealed, and the Georgia Supreme Court is now considering it.

Reeves also is named as a party in a wrongful death suit filed in 2014 by Hunnicutt's daughter, which also names Murphy Oil USA, also known as Murphy's Express, as a defendant.

Depositions and discovery in the civil case are set to continue into this summer, according to Bibb County Superior Court records.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.

This story was originally published January 10, 2016 at 9:11 PM with the headline "Lawyer for accused Gray Highway killer seeks to have client declared incompetent ."