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Post by sclcookie on Jun 6, 2006 1:42:39 GMT -5
Prosecution may seek death penalty in prison nurse slaying
Prosecutors may seek the death penalty against a state prison nurse who is charged with shooting to death a fellow nurse and her 4-year-old daughter, prosecutors said in court today.
Houston F. Lloyd, 48, of Matthew Court, Kingston Springs, a registered nurse working at the states DeBerry Special Needs facility in Nashville, will continue to be held without bail in the Cumberland County Jail, the judge ruled today.
He is charged with shooting to death Kimberly Wyatt, 27, and her daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Wyatt, in a church parking lot outside Crossville Sunday. Wyatt was a licensed practical nurse employed at Southeast Tennessee Regional Correction Facility near Pikeville, Tenn.
Prosecutors said they would present a case against Lloyd to the Cumberland County Grand Jury soon. The grand jury next meets on July 10, but if the case is ready sooner, prosecutors said they would convene a special session of the grand jury.
A preliminary hearing was set for Lloyd for June 19. Among the witnesses who will testify that day, prosecutors said, is a state prison guard who saw the shooting, and whose name has not been made public yet. In a warrant filed with the court, the witness described seeing Lloyd say Wyatt "would not ruin my life anymore" as he shot her.
Lloyd had sought to have the courts appoint an attorney for him at todays hearing. However, the judge ruled that because Lloyd is employed, and has substantial equity in his home, he does not qualify as impoverished enough to need a publicly financed lawyer.
(source: The Tennessean)
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