A motion has been filed in Lowndes County circuit court to preclude the death penalty for a capital murder suspect because of mental retardation.
Circuit Judge Lee Howard will hear the motion on April 22 at 9 a.m. for 20-year-old Nathaniel Lee Major Wilder, who is accused of the 2008 shooting death of Cornelius Cunningham in Columbus.
Wilder allegedly shot the victim in the head while he was sitting outside his apartment at 2112 14th Ave. N. on Sept. 18, 2008.
Wilder again made headlines late last year when he was mistakenly released last year from the embattled Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility in Leake County. He was rearrested by U.S. Marshals in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla., on Nov. 23.
The Mississippi Department of Corrections continues to deny any wrongdoing and claimed the proper paperwork had not been filed by the Lowndes County Sheriff”s Office.
LCSO Chief Deputy Greg Wright has also denied that the sheriff”s department is to blame. He said he has documentation that proves the department followed the correct procedures.
Neither the LCSO nor MDOC plans to investigate how Wilder was released.
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