Muncie man charged in two South Liberty slayings to pursue insanity defense
MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man charged in the slayings of two local residents during an armed home invasion is pursuing an insanity defense.
Daniel Lamar Jones, 27, is charged with two counts of murder in the July 13 slayings of Malcolm E. Perdue, 69, and Kyndra K. Swift, 51, at a house in the 2900 block of South Liberty Street.
Muncie police said Jones accompanied Devin Xavier Myers, 28 — who is accused of fatally shooting the victims — to the southside home.
A safe stolen from the Liberty Street home — which contained "silver coins and what appeared to be marijuana edibles" — was later found at an East Willard Street home where Jones was apprehended.
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Jones also is charged with aiding, inducting or causing robbery, criminal confinement, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, obstruction of justice and resisting law enforcement.
He reportedly told investigators he had agreed to participate in what was intended to be a robbery at the Liberty Street address, but said he fled from the scene after hearing gunshots.
Jones' public defender, Brandon Murphy, this week filed a "notice of defense of mental disease or defect," necessary for his client to pursue an insanity defense.
Murphy asked Delaware Circuit Court 5 Judge Thomas Cannon Jr. to appoint medical health professionals to examine his client, and asked to be present for those examinations.
That drew an objection from Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman, who said in a motion it was "contrary to both state and federal law as well as the prevailing norms and wisdom in the fields of psychiatry and psychology to have attorneys for either side present for an insanity evaluation."
Judge Cannon ruled Murphy could not attend the meetings with mental health professionals, but could meet with his client before and after those sessions.
Jones — being held without bail in the Delaware County jail — has received a Jan. 16 trial date in Cannon's court.
In addition to the killings during the home invasion, Myers also is charged with having earlier killed another member of the same household, 19-year-old Kyler Ryan Musick, who was Perdue's grandson and Swift's great-nephew.
Myers' trial is scheduled to begin on Jan. 2.
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Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie man charged in two slayings to pursue insanity defense
