
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, April 17, 1995                   TAG: 9504180087
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SUSPECT IN ROANOKE SLAYING DIES

A Roanoke man charged two months ago with the beating death of his grandmother died Saturday.

Kenneth M. Morris, 31, was released from police custody April 5 for treatment of a serious illness.

Roanoke Public Defender Ray Leven would not elaborate on Morris' illness or the cause of death.

Morris was accused of killing 70-year-old Geneva Weatherford in her apartment at the Lansdowne public housing development the weekend of Feb. 11.

A neighbor found Weatherford's body on the living room floor, covered with trash. Morris was standing several feet away and apparently had been with the body for some time.

In March, a Roanoke judge ordered a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether Morris was competent to stand trial.

Morris became severely ill while being examined at a mental hospital. Leven said state doctors determined that Morris was unfit for trial.

Keywords:
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by CNB