A Nevada justice of the peace has canceled this month’s preliminary hearing for a man accused of kidnapping and killing a Fernley teenager until a state judge rules on his competence to stand trial.

Troy Driver was scheduled to appear in justice court in Fernley Sept. 13-15 for a preliminary hearing to determine whether there’s enough evidence to bound him over to Lyon County District Court on murder, kidnapping and other charges in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Naomi Irion.

Canal Township Justice Court Judge Lori Matheus vacated the hearing in an order on Thursday, along with a Sept. 13 hearing on Driver’s public defenders’ motion to dismiss some of the charges.

She specified, “The actions in this case shall be delayed until the competence issue has been resolved.” There hasn’t yet been a date set for the hearing on that.

Driver faces six charges in addition to first-degree murder, including sexual assault, robbery, and evidence destruction. His attorneys argue that he cannot be tried in Lyon County for the March killing, which occurred in neighboring Churchill County.

Prosecutors argue that he can be tried in Lyon County on all charges because he kidnapped Irion from a Walmart there before shooting and burying her in the desert “all as one continuous course of conduct.”

Credits: KoloTV

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