Stevens declared competent for trial in Lewis killings

The preliminary hearing had been postponed several times because both attorneys were awaiting results of the mental exam. Stevens is being represented by the public defender's office.

"I can't release a lot of details, but what I can say is the report filed from the mental exam shows that the defendant is competent to stand trial," Pearson said Monday.

The mental exam was performed Aug. 18 at the St. Louis Metropolitan Psychiatric Center at the state's request. The results were mailed to Dent County earlier this month.

Stevens is accused in the March 1 shooting deaths of Mary Lewis and Dennis Lewis at their rural Dent County home.

Stevens is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, tampering with a motor vehicle in the first degree and unlawful possession of a firearm. Stevens was not supposed to lawfully possess a firearm since a 1980 felony conviction of burglary in Jackson County.

No motive has been given in court charges. Stevens is being held in the Dent County Jail. Bond was denied at the time of his arrest by Judge Sandy Ball.

An autopsy of Dennis Lewis, 57, revealed that he had been shot three times in the head/neck area, according to court records. An autopsy of Mary Lewis, 50, indicated that she had been shot once in the head/neck area. Both were shot with a .22 caliber firearm.

After the killings, law enforcement investigators recovered a gun, and a vehicle owned by the Lewis couple that was allegedly driven to Holts Summit and determined that there was blood stains on the weapon.

On March 4 Stevens was picked up in Holts Summit by State Highway Patrol officers and transported to Dent County. In an interview with Stevens conducted in Holts Summit, Stevens admitted that prior to leaving the Lewis residence in their 2005 Dodge truck he walked into the bedroom of Mary and Dennis Lewis, turned on the lights and shot both of them, according to court documents.

The Lewis' bodies were discovered by a friend who was checking on their wellbeing.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Stevens faces the death penalty or imprisonment for life without the eligibility of probation or parole, according to the charges. He is being charged as a prior offender.