Inmate accused of killing deputy found incompetent to stand trial
NEW BOSTON, TX (KSLA) - The man accused of shooting and killing a Bowie County deputy has been declared incompetent to stand trial on a charge of capital murder.
Tucker Strickland, now 23, was an inmate being transported to the Bowie County courthouse by 54-year-old deputy Sherri Jones for a court hearing in April 2011 when he allegedly overpowered Jones, took her gun and shot her.
He fled from the courthouse in the county transport van, but was caught about a half-hour later by police in Ashdown, AR.
At a hearing Monday in Bowie County Court, a judge ruled Strickland is not competent to stand trial and ordered him into the custody of a state mental hospital until he is able to stand trial. As of Monday evening, Strickland remained in custody at the Fannin County Jail in Bonham, Texas.
At the time of the shooting, Strickland was being transported from a hearing to determine his competency to stand trial on an assault charge. He was accused of assaulting his mother in August of 2010. According to his mother, that mental evaluation also determined that he was unfit to stand trial on that charge.
