KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It's starting to sound like a broken record but as has been the case with our most recent updates on the case of accused Indian Creek Killer Fredrick Scott, it's still unclear when or if he will go to trial.
This is a case that started in 2016, when the first victim was discovered along the Indian Creek Trail in Kansas City, Missouri.
Over the next year, four more men were also shot and killed on or near the trail. In 2017, Fredrick Scott was arrested and charged in their deaths, along with the fatal shooting of a homeless woman in Grandview.
However, more than seven years later, the case still has not gone to trial.
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In addition to changes in judges and defense attorneys, the biggest delay has been due to Scott fluctuating in and out of mental competency while in the Jackson County jail.
As recently as this past July, the judge overseeing the case raised concerns about Scott's mental state, questioning whether he was refusing to take his prescribed medications.
That judge ordered another mental health evaluation and referred Scott to the Missouri Department of Mental Health.
However, at a hearing this week, Scott is still in the Jackson County Detention Center awaiting an evaluation despite the six months that have passed since that referral.
The Missouri Department of Mental Health has stated the evaluation is now scheduled for Jan. 21.
In September, the Missouri DMH told KSHB 41 there were 353 individuals in Missouri jails awaiting admission to Division of Behavioral Health (DBH) hospitals under court orders for competency restoration, with an average wait time of 12 months.
And that's after Missouri's DMH has a chance to do a mental health evaluation, something else that's facing a major backlog. At the time, there were 278 people who were awaiting evaluations, with a wait time ranging from 60 to 120 days.
The findings of Scott's latest mental health evaluation are set to be shared with the court at the next hearing, scheduled for March 7 at 3:30 p.m.
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