photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Robert Earl Davis

A man accused of fatally stabbing another man at a Lawrence grocery store is now deemed competent to stand trial, and his attorney said Friday that he planned to enter into mediation to resolve the murder case.

Robert Earl Davis, 56, of Lawrence, is charged in Douglas County District Court with one count of first-degree murder and one felony count of cruelty to animals, according to charging documents.

The charges relate to an incident on Aug. 18, 2021, when Davis is alleged to have stabbed 66-year-old Daniel Evan Brooks, of Lawrence, in the parking lot of the Dillons grocery store at 1015 W. 23rd St. Brooks was pronounced dead at the scene.

photo by: Lawrence Humane Society

On the left is a picture of Bear taken shortly after he was stabbed and his owner was killed in August of 2021. On the right, is a picture of Bear after recovering, taken with his new family in September of 2021, at the Lawrence Humane Society.

Davis is also alleged to have stabbed Brooks’ dog, Bear. About a month later, Bear was adopted, after he recovered, by Brooks’ brother, as the Journal-World reported.

Davis was deemed incompetent to stand trial in October 2021 and waited more than a year before a bed opened up at Larned State Hospital. Judge James McCabria ordered Davis to 90 days of treatment on Nov. 15, 2022, according to court records.

Davis was scheduled to appear Friday for a preliminary hearing, but his attorney, Branden Smith, said that Davis decided to waive his right to the hearing and to engage in an Independent Assessment Conference (IAC) with the state and a mediator.

During a preliminary hearing, the state would have presented evidence to convince a judge that a crime was committed and that there was probable cause to believe that Davis had committed it.

Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden said that the state was open to working through the IAC process with Davis, but Seiden requested that the court set a trial date in case negotiations failed. Seiden said that he would work to get a meeting with a mediator and Davis within a few weeks.

Judge Sally Pokorny scheduled a trial date for Oct. 2 and asked the parties to keep the court informed of the IAC process.

Davis is currently in custody at the Douglas County Jail and is being held on a $750,000 cash or surety bond.

Davis was previously convicted of multiple violent crimes in Douglas County, including aggravated battery, rape and aggravated assault, all felonies, in 1983 and spent 21 years in the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections. He was convicted of another felony aggravated battery in 2017. According to Douglas County District Court records, he was sentenced to 21 months of confinement but was granted 18 months of probation and was released from supervision in March 2019.