BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Defense lawyers say a 57-year-old Slaughter man is mentally disabled and therefore cannot be executed if he is convicted of killing two people and wounding a third at a Baton Rouge construction firm in 2009.
The Advocate (https://bit.ly/PxXFvt ) reports that lawyers for Richard Matthews filed court papers Friday alleging that he has a life-long history of significant intellectual and behavioral impairment.
No trial date has been set. Matthews is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and five of attempted first-degree murder. He’s accused of killing 44-year-old Dianna Tullie, of Walker, and 55-year-old Cheryl Boykin, of Denham Springs, at Grady Crawford Construction Co. on Dec. 23, 2009. A third woman was wounded.
The firm had fired Matthews several months before the shootings.
___
Information from: The Advocate, https://theadvocate.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.