13 Nov Miller County Murder Case on Hold as Mental Evaluation Results Are Pending

A murder case in Miller County is on hold while a mental evaluation of the defendant is pending, per the Texarkana Gazette.

Joseph Preston Richardson III, 24, faces a first-degree murder charge in the fatal May 22 shooting of Clay Walker. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

Deputies went to Walker’s home on Coca-Cola Lake Road that afternoon, at about 1:30, on reports of gunfire. Walker had been shot once in the head and died. Investigators named Richardson as the suspect early on. A deputy driving to the scene later checked his dashboard camera video and noticed he had driven past Richardson’s vehicle, and the license plate number from that footage went out in a lookout alert.

The Texas Department of Public Safety took Richardson into custody near Maud in Bowie County, Texas. The Miller County Sheriff’s Office said in a June news release that he declined to return voluntarily, and that investigators received a governor’s warrant for his extradition on June 22. He was brought back to Miller County the next day, per the Gazette.

Besides murder, which carries a range of 10 to 40 years in prison or life, court documents show Richardson also faces counts of possession of a firearm by certain persons, endangering the welfare of a minor and hindering apprehension. The endangerment count involves a child who was reportedly in the car he drove away in.

Richardson’s attorney, Jacob Potter, requested the mental evaluation, which was set for Nov. 9. In an order, Judge Wren Autry cited reasonable suspicion that Richardson’s fitness to proceed is in question. What the evaluation shows will go before the court at a December hearing, court records state.

Richardson is still held at the Miller County Detention Center, where bail is $1 million. The sheriff’s office said in June that he was also held on a revocation petition that carries no bond.