TEXARKANA, Ark. - COVID-19 has caused delays in a capital murder case stemming from the December 2016 death of a Miller County correctional officer, but the court and lawyers involved are moving forward again.
Tramell Mackenzie Hunter, 30, who is accused of beating Officer Lisa Mauldin to death Dec. 18, 2016, in the Miller County jail's kitchen, is scheduled for trial Nov. 30 at the Miller County courthouse.
Hunter was deemed unfit to proceed to trial following an initial mental evaluation in early 2017 and in subsequent evaluations. In July 2019, officials at the Arkansas State Hospital concluded Hunter is competent and may have been faking symptoms of mental illness, according to records.
Hunter's lawyer, Ron Davis of Little Rock, wants Hunter evaluated by an independent expert in advance of his capital murder trial. Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Potter Barrett previously said the state is seeking the death penalty. Davis has rejected a plea offer from the state that would spare Hunter a possible death sentence.
Circuit Judge Kirk Johnson granted Davis' motion for an outside evaluation last year but it has not been conducted. At the time of Mauldin's death, Hunter was serving time for felony convictions originating in Pulaski County and was assigned to the Miller County jail as part of a program meant to provide local jails with cheap labor and prison inmates with an opportunity to work and reside closer to family.
After Mauldin's death, Hunter was returned to an Arkansas prison. Because of COVID-19, prison officials have restricted visitors from prisons in the state and the policy has made it impossible for Hunter's evaluation by a defense expert to take place. The parties recently decided that Hunter's evaluation will take place later this month at the Miller County Courthouse.
Hunter allegedly attacked Mauldin in the jail's kitchen following a short verbal exchange. In addition to capital murder in Mauldin's death, Hunter also faces a charge of battery of a peace officer for allegedly assaulting a second female officer, Damaris Allen, who walked into the jail's kitchen after Mauldin was attacked.
If found guilty of capital murder, Hunter faces the death penalty or life without the possibility of parole.