photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Robert Earl Davis addresses his defense attorney, Branden Smith, at a hearing on Oct. 16, 2023, in Douglas County District Court.

A man accused of murdering a Lawrence resident outside a grocery store and stabbing his dog two years ago has once again been declared incompetent to stand trial.

The defendant, Robert Earl Davis, 56, of Lawrence, faces one count of first-degree murder and one felony count of cruelty to animals. Davis is accused of stabbing 66-year-old Daniel Evan Brooks to death in the parking lot of the Dillons grocery store at 1015 W. 23rd St. Davis is also alleged to have stabbed Brooks’ dog, Bear, who survived the attack.

On Wednesday, Judge Sally Pokorny adopted the findings of an evaluation by a professional at Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center who reported that Davis has “an intellectual disability so severe” that he is unable to understand the criminal proceedings against him or to assist in his defense.

Pokorny noted an occurrence before Wednesday’s hearing even began in which Davis, after talking with his attorney, Branden Smith, got up from the defense table and tried to leave the courtroom. Davis could be heard saying “I want to go back” and “I don’t want to talk to nobody,” as deputies informed him that he had to see the judge first.

A deputy with court security tried to get Davis to sit back down, but Davis refused. Pokorny was asked about restraining Davis, but she declined, and he was allowed to be escorted from the courtroom.

Davis’ attorney and Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden both urged Pokorny to adopt the findings of the Bert Nash evaluation, and she did so, ordering Davis to be committed once again to Larned State Hospital to have his competency to stand trial restored.

As the Journal-World reported, Davis has been in custody since his arrest in 2021. He was deemed incompetent to stand trial in October of that year and finally got a bed at Larned in November 2022. Six months later, in May 2023, he was deemed competent.

In October 2023, Davis was set to enter a plea — the details of which have not been made public — but Seiden withdrew the plea offer after Smith requested another continuance in the case.

Davis remains in custody at the Douglas County Jail and is being held on a $750,000 cash or surety bond. His address at the time of his arrest was listed in the jail booking log as the Lawrence Community Shelter at 3655 E. 25th St.

He 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.