The trial for a troubled DeKalb County U.S. Army veteran accused of murder in the death of his 78-year-old grandmother has been postponed because his attorney is seeking to have him deemed incompetent.
Gregory Williams, 37, had been set to face trial Monday, but he was sent last month from the county jail to a mental hospital for evaluations after "psychotic behavior," according to court records. The district attorney's office consented to the tests, and now defense attorney Daryl Queen has filed a special plea of mental incompetence.
The plea, which argues that Williams’ mental state makes him unable to assist in his own defense, must be accepted by a judge. Judge Gregory A. Adams is assigned to the case.
If Adams deems Williams incompetent, the judge would determine what happens next. Traditionally in such cases in Georgia, the defendant is institutionalized.
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Millicent Williams disappeared late last July.
Her grandson was soon found at a Kroger with her car, which had blood in the trunk, DeKalb police have said. Her home off Flakes Mill Road also had blood in it, enough that detectives believed she must've been dead even though they wouldn't find her body off I-20 for several more weeks.
Gregory Williams is accused of forcing his way into her bedroom and attacking her with a “Rambo-style” knife, police said after his arrest.
Court and police records suggest a troubled relationship between the grandmother and grandson. She said he suffered from PTSD after service in the Army and refused to take his medicine.
Though his grandmother believed he'd served in Iraq, Gregory Williams was never deployed, the Army said.
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