KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kylr Yust’s defense team filed a motion Friday to prevent him from being required to appear in court.
According to the court filing, Yust is “currently incompetent to proceed based upon a mental disease or defect” and “has extreme anxiety about appearing in court.”
A Cass County Circuit Court judge has yet to rule on the motion, so Yust appeared for a case review as scheduled Monday.
He is charged with the murder of two different Cass County women, Kara Kopetsky and Jessica Runions.
Yust isn’t due again in court until Nov. 18 for another case review.
Yust’s lawyers filed a motion to have him declared mentally unfit for trial in late August.
A judge subsequently ordered a mental health evaluation and the trial was delayed after new evidence was provided by the state.
Yust’s trial was scheduled to begin Nov. 4, but his lawyers argued that the discovery issues would require more time to mount a proper defense.
Yust’s trial will remain in Cass County, but it will feature a jury impaneled in St. Charles County, Missouri.
Dr. Jose Matthews filed a report with the court through Yust’s lawyers, which detail his symptoms. The report said Yust isn’t receiving “appropriate medical treatment” for his condition.
Yust’s attorneys, Sharon Turlington and Robert Lundt, argue that keeping him from appearing in court will “prevent him from additional psychological suffering.”
