NORFOLK, Va. — A man accused of shooting five women in Norfolk's Young Terrace neighborhood was deemed competent to stand trial on Tuesday.
A judge said mental evaluation results from the medical examiner show Ziontay Palmer is competent to stand trial on the General District Court level.
His case, however, is continued until April because the autopsy report for the three women who died has not come back yet.
If Palmer's case moves to the Circuit Court level, he could undergo another mental health evaluation.
Palmer allegedly killed three women and hurt two others when he opened fire in Young Terrace on the evening of November 3, 2021, in an event that Police Chief Larry Boone described as a "mass shooting."
Residents in Young Terrace said Palmer shot his 19-year-old girlfriend and when the girlfriend's mother, her partner and two other women ran out to help, Palmer shot them as well.
Three of the women -- Detra Brown, Nicole Lovewine, and Sara Costine -- all died. The other two gunshot victims are recovering.
Palmer is charged with three counts of second-degree murder, one charge of malicious wounding and four counts of the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.