MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Nearly one year after the daughter of a former Kentucky state representative was shot and killed in her sleep, the man accused in her murder answered to new charges Friday morning.
There were three things on the docket in the case against Shannon Gilday.
First, an arraignment on new assault charges, followed by multiple motions from Gilday's team leading to a larger conversation on his mental health.
Gilday is facing a new charge of third-degree assault for an incident with a corrections officer. A not guilty plea was put in for this new charge. It will be put in with the current charges against him, including the murder of Jordan Morgan, daughter of former state representative C. Wesley Morgan.
Following that arraignment, the defense addressed two motions filed: One for an improvement of living conditions, and the other arguing for a partial in-person visitation from Gilday's mother. Both are based on concern for Gilday's mental health.
"Shannon is falling apart, and as you may have heard in the courtroom, that has led to behavior at the jail, and it's led to hallucinations," said Tom Griffiths, Gilday's attorney. "He believes his own family are not real. He believes that they're a computer projection. That's the sort of thing that's getting worse, not better."
Judge Cole Adams Maier overruled both motions for lack of evidence to justify a hearing. The judge also ordered Gilday to go through a mental evaluation.
Another pretrial conference is set for March 17 at 10:00 a.m. but that is subject to change if a hearing is decided on sooner.
