Mental competency evaluation ordered in Front Royal murder case

A mental competency evaluation has been granted for the 32-year-old man accused of killing his stepfather in the Grand Avenue home they shared with other family members in Front Royal.

David Glynn Hoyle appeared in a Warren County Courtroom for the first time on Tuesday morning (April 4).  Two scheduled hearings in the days after the March 27 murder of 58-year-old Warren Howard Ramsey were postponed before Hoyle appeared by video in Domestic Relations Court on March 29.  Judge William Sharpe appointed defense counsel from the public defender’s office at that time.

On Tuesday (April 4), Hoyle’s attorney Tim Coyne told General District Court Judge W. Dale Houff that he was not sure his client could understand the court proceedings scheduled in the case or assist in preparing a defense.  He asked the court to grant an in-patient evaluation of his client’s “physical and mental state.”

David Glynn Hoyle, Jr. – Photo Courtesy RSW Regional Jail

Houff then granted the requested in-patient competency evaluation at either Western or Central State Hospital.  A hearing date of May 24 at 1:30 p.m. was set to review the evaluation, dependent upon receipt of the report by May 17.  Pending scheduling of the mental evaluation and determination of a location for it to be conducted by a state commissioner, Hoyle remains incarcerated without bond at RSW Regional Jail.  Central State Hospital is located in Petersburg; Western State is in Staunton.

Surrounded by a half dozen friends or family members, Hoyle’s mother and Ramsey’s wife sat stone-faced in the first row behind the defense table throughout the proceeding.  Her son was shackled in the courtroom, as he appeared to be during his remote video court appearance on March 29.  However, he appeared to be without the strap-on, protective vest he wore then, as well as in his RSW Jail mug shot.

208 Grand Avenue site of fatal March 27 shooting.

The police report states that according to an unidentified family member Hoyle walked into the living room where Ramsey was seated on the couch and began shooting without any words being exchanged between the two.  Hoyle was present at the scene when police arrived and later confessed to the murder, according to the criminal complaint.  Police responded to the report of a shooting at 10:49 p.m., Monday evening, March 27.  A revolver believed to be the murder weapon was recovered by police, though exactly where was not cited in the criminal complaint.

Hoyle has been charged with First Degree Murder and the use of a firearm in the commission of a murder attempt.  Conviction on the murder charge carries a 20 years to life in prison sentencing range; the firearms charge has a minimum-mandatory of three years in prison.

Judge Houff asked Coyne if he was going to file an insanity plea for his client.  Coyne replied that the defense would await the result of the state mental competency evaluation before making a decision in that regard.  Coyne was accompanied by co-counsel Ryan Nuzzo at Tuesday morning’s hearing.  Anna Hammond represented the commonwealth.

Neither counsel offered further comment following the brief hearing.