Murder suspect Kendle Marcelous Simon was returned to the Marion County Jail last week from the state hospital in Whitfield. Plans are in motion to send him back to the state hospital, according to District Attorney Hal Kittrell.
Simon is suspected in the shooting death of Patrick Davis in June 2013. Davis was riding his bike and did not return home. Deputies from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office later found his body.
Simon was arrested in January 2015, and the matter originally went to trial on February 2017. A mistrial was declared when a potential juror was seen talking to a member of Davis’s family.
Circuit Court Judge Anthony Mozingo sent Simon to Whitfield for a mental evaluation after the mistrial. A previous attorney for Simon had also petition for a mental competency evaluation, citing mental problems, retardation and that he could not communicate with his attorney or understand his rights in 2015.
Simon had already been declared incompetent to stand trial after more than a year of treatment, according to an order signed by Mozingo.
