Stanton, Ky. ? A man accused of fatally shooting a small-town police chief – a family friend the suspect says tried to help him kick his drug habit – was arraigned Friday on a murder charge and ordered held without bond.

James Barnett, 37, spoke little and wasn’t asked to enter a plea during his first court appearance. Judge Kenneth Profitt assigned him a public defender and set a preliminary hearing for June 25.

Surrounded by several extra security officers while seated at the front of the county courtroom, Barnett didn’t make eye contact with relatives of Clay City Police Chief Randy Lacy, whom he is accused of shooting in the back of the head in his police cruiser Wednesday.

Also in attendance was Barnett’s oldest son, James Jr., 18, who said it was extremely difficult watching what had become of his father. “I wish he would have straightened up a long time ago, like he told me a million times,” James Barnett Jr. said.

Barnett’s wife and three other children – one just a month old – didn’t appear in court.

Many of Clay City’s 1,300 residents held a candlelight vigil this week and set up a makeshift memorial of flowers and balloons for their fallen police chief, the only active member of the eastern Kentucky town’s police force. A funeral was scheduled for Sunday in the high school gymnasium.

Lacy, 55, had picked Barnett up minutes before the shooting on a charge of driving under the influence.

Lt. Phil Crumpton of the Kentucky State Police said investigators have interviewed Barnett about the shooting but wouldn’t comment further. The primary unanswered question was how the killer was able to grab one of the two guns Lacy usually carried and shoot him through a hard-plastic barrier at point-blank range from the back seat of the squad car.

In a jailhouse interview Thursday night with The Associated Press, Barnett said he was too high on drugs to recall any of the events that led up to the shooting. He occasionally buried his face in his hands during the interview and had tears streaming down his face.

“I feel like I’m dying inside,” Barnett said. “I remember going to a liquor store and eating a handful of Xanax and ending up here.” Xanax is an anti-anxiety medication.

Kentucky State Police acknowledged that Lacy handcuffed Barnett in the front rather than behind his back – a frequent practice for suspects he knew.

Greg Adams, a Powell County sheriff’s deputy, said Lacy often kept a gun between the seat and console in the front of the squad car. He speculated that the extra gun could have slipped to the back, but state police investigators wouldn’t comment on that theory.