Man Charged in Gun Range Shooting to Undergo Competency Exam

Jessce Lincon Stearn, the Brighton man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter and felony firearms in connection with the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Charles Robert Kimball will undergo a competency exam to determine if he is fit to stand trial.

According to a report on WHMI, the court ordered Stearn to undergo state forensic testing earlier this week.

The shooting incident took place in June 2012 at the Livingston Conservation and Sports Association gun range.  Livingston County Sheriff Bob Bezotte said back in October that Stearn and Kimball should not have been at the gun range that day and that Stearn was holding a replica AK-47 when it discharged and hit Kimball, killing him instantly. Stearn originally told police the gun malfunctioned while he was cleaning the weapon.

In May, Livingston County Prosecutor William Vailliencourt confirmed that he had filed new charges in the shooting death of Charles Kimball. "Based on new evidence, Jessce Lincon Stearn has been charged with Open Murder and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony," a press release from the prosecutor's office stated. "The murder charge carries with it a maximum sentence of life in prison and the weapons charge requires a mandatory two year prison sentence."