Jury indicts Lockhart, no trial date set

The Smiths Station man accused of killing Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk has been indicted on three capital murder charges.

Courtney L. Lockhart, 23, has also been indicted for allegedly robbing the Short Stop in Smiths Station, according to Lee County District Attorney Nick Abbett.

Abbett said the latest session of the grand jury completed its work shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday. Because grand jury proceedings are sealed, Abbett can only disclose indictments of persons who have been arrested. Lockhart has been in police custody since the Phenix City Police stopped him on a traffic violation March 7.

Lockhart is currently being held without bond in the Lee County Detention Facility on charges of capital murder during a kidnapping, capital murder during a robbery and capital murder during an attempted rape.

Abbett said the next step in the case against Lockhart is for a circuit court judge to set a date for an arraignment, where the defense will enter its plea.

According to court documents obtained by the Opelika-Auburn News earlier this week, Lockhart’s lead defense attorney Joel Collins has requested a mental evaluation of his client. In those documents, it states that the request was made in an effort to prove Lockhart is not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The Alabama Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation will conduct the test, but court documents do not indicate when it will take place.

The judge will also set a date for the trial, which Abbett has said would likely be a year from now.

Burk, an 18-year-old from Marietta, Ga., was found by authorities on the roadway of North College Street between Lee Road 72 and U.S. Highway 280 shortly after 9 p.m. March 4. She was transported to East Alabama Medical Center, where she later died as a result of a single gunshot wound. Her car, a 2001 black Honda Civic, was found about 9:30 p.m. engulfed in flames in the Hinton Field parking lot on campus.