Louisville man accused of murdering his mother booked into jail on new indictment

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville man accused of murdering his mother is back in jail, two days after Kentucky's attorney general announced a new indictment against him.

Wednesday, Attorney General Daniel Cameron's office announced the murder indictment of Gavin Perkins, who allegedly shot and killed his mother, Ruth Perkins, in 2018 but was repeatedly ruled not competent to stand trial and was feared to be released soon.

Cameron said Wednesday a Jefferson County Grand jury indicted Perkins, 44, on one count of murder for allegedly shooting his mother, who was 69. The case was presented to the grand jury by the attorney general's office.

Another judge will again have to find whether Perkins is competent to stand trial.

Perkins' case has attracted widespread criticism and interest in recent weeks as it appeared that not only would he not stand trial for the alleged 2018 murder but be released after Central State Hospital officials testified in April they could no longer keep him in custody.

A judge sided with Central State, which said Perkins wasn't benefitting from treatment and the facility could no longer continue to hold him under Kentucky law.

However, Perkins had remained hospitalized by his own choice, according to people familiar with the case.

The family of the Perkins' mother, Ruth, as well as Gov. Andy Beshear had pushed for Cameron's office to take up the case, as they believe he is still a danger. Perkins was in the military and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Perkins' record is clear outside of the murder charge, and it is unclear if prosecutors could just the law since his crimes occurred before it was passed.

Prosecutors believe Perkins shot his mother, Ruth Perkins, to death in April 2018. He was originally charged with murder, but that charge was dismissed in September 2021, after he was found incompetent to stand trial twice, based on competency evaluations conducted by medical professionals.

Tom Wine, the Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney at the time, filed two petitions in an effort to keep Perkins hospitalized. The second petition led to a civil trial, in which the judge allowed Perkins to be involuntarily hospitalized for 60 days.

When that period came to an end earlier this month, the new Commonwealth's Attorney, Gerina Whethers, filed another petition asking that Perkins be hospitalized for another 360 days.

The petition was denied.

Family members Kirsten Russell and Chad Perkins are concerned about what could happen if Gavin Perkins doesn't remain hospitalized.

"We are just trying to prevent really bad things from happening," Chad Perkins said.

They both talked to their brother in the second to last court hearing and told him how devastated they were for what he did.

According to them, he suffers from persecutory delusional disorder.

"He believes that specifically government agents are out to get him," Chad Perkins said. "The FBI, the police, CIA, anyone like that."

Perkins was booked into Louisville's jail on Friday, where he's being held on a $500,000 cash bond. He will be arraigned in Jefferson Circuit Court on June 26.

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