Next month’s trial date vacated for alleged sheriff killer

Next month’s scheduled murder trial for Tennis Maynard, accused in the 2013 shooting death of Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum, has been postponed.

Cabell County Circuit Judge Paul Farrell vacated Maynard’s trial date during a hearing Tuesday in Huntington. No official reason was given, though Kanawha County special prosecutor Mark Plants gave limited information about the hearing, much of which took place in Farrell’s chambers.

“We were instructed that it was a confidential matter—it deals with the defendant’s medical records,” Plants said. “So once some of those medical issues were brought up to the judge, he vacated the trial date and it will be scheduled for a later date.”

Maynard has undergone a psychiatric evaluation. There has been no word on whether he was found competent to stand trial.

Maynard was scheduled to go on trial next month for the April 3, 2013, shooting of Crum, who was gunned down as he ate lunch in his sheriff’s cruiser near the Mingo County Courthouse.

Plants said he’ll keep working on the case.