HOUSTON (CN) - A man accused of murdering a Texas sheriff's officer is incompetent and must be sent to a mental hospital for 120 days, a state judge ruled Tuesday.
Shannon Miles, 31, is in Harris County jail waiting for a spot to open up at North Texas State Hospital, 170 miles northwest of Fort Worth, as ordered by Harris County Judge Susan Brown.
Doctors working for both prosecution and defense agreed that Miles, who is schizophrenic, does not understand the capital murder charge he faces for shooting Harris County sheriff's Officer Darren Goforth.
Goforth, 47, was shot 15 times from behind on Aug. 28 last year as he filled up his cruiser at a Houston gas station.
Sixty other Harris County inmates precede Miles on a waiting list for a spot at the hospital. His attorney told Houston's ABC affiliate KTRK-TV that Miles probably will not be admitted until May.
The Harris County Sheriff's Department said it was "disappointed by the news," but "hopeful that the state will restore Shannon Miles' competency promptly so justice can be sought."
If convicted, Miles could face the death penalty, but given his history of mental problems that prospect is unlikely.
This is the second time a Texas court has declared Miles incompetent.
After the Travis County District Attorney's Office charged Miles with aggravated assault for an April 2012 incident at a homeless shelter, in which he fought over the remote control to a TV, a judge found him incompetent and he spent several months at a state mental hospital.
A Travis County prosecutor told Austin's NBC affiliate KXAN that Miles was declared competent in February 2013, but the charges were dropped because the victim couldn't be found.
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