SUFFOLK, Va. (WVEC) -- Federal authorities have transferred the suspect charged in the abduction and killing of 19-year-old Ashanti Billie.
Eric Brian Brown is now in custody in another state.
13News Now was first to report Brown is now at a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility all the way in Kentucky.
The 45-year-old Navy veteran is facing a federal kidnapping charge, after authorities said he abducted Ashanti Billie from J.E.B Little Creek in September. She was later found dead in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Brown was in custody at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk, while his case goes through the court process. According to records 13News Now uncovered, Brown was transferred from there on Wednesday.
The public affairs office of the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed late Thursday, he is now at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, which is about 600 miles away.
A court order from a federal judge mandated U.S. marshals transport Brown for an examination by at least one psychiatrist or licensed clinical psychologist. The purpose is to determine if Brown is mentally competent to understand the proceedings against him and assist in his defense. The order said the commitment at the federal facility should not exceed thirty days.
Once the report is complete, the judge has ordered authorities to send it to the federal court in Norfolk, to both the U.S. attorneys and Brown's defense lawyers.
As soon as we know how this case will move forward, we will bring you those details.