Man indicted in HPD officer’s death will receive mental competency exam

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. ( WHNT ) — A man accused of killing a Huntsville police officer changed his plea to not guilty by mental defect and will receive a mental competency exam from the state.

A judge granted a motion for Juan Laws to be given the exam by a certified forensic examiner appointed by the Alabama Department of Mental Health.

After the exam, a written report will be given to the court advising them of Lewis’s mental condition as it relates to his alleged actions.

Juan Laws is facing a capital murder charge following the shooting death of Huntsville Police Officer Garrett Crumby in March of 2023.

Laws was indicted for capital murder and domestic violence on Friday, August 30.

On September 3, Laws pled not guilty to each of those charges. Later that day, attorneys for Laws filed a formal change of plea from “Not Guilty and Not Guilty by Reason of Mental Disease or Defect.”

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Attorneys representing Laws believe that he needs a mental competency evaluation to determine both his competency to stand trial, as well as to determine whether he was suffering from a mental disease or defect at the time of the alleged incidents.

On March 28, 2023, HPD said that Crumby, along with fellow officer Albert Morin, was shot by Laws when they responded to a shots fired call at the Governors House Apartments.

According to HPD, Crumby died from his injuries, and Morin was later released from the hospital after recovering.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) charged 24-year-old Laws with capital murder of a law enforcement officer.

Laws was facing charges from another incident where he was accused of shooting two people outside of Sammy T’s in January of 2022 and was out on bond at the time of Crumby’s death.

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