Maurice L. Candies

A Bowling Green man accused of murder in a deadly shooting is scheduled to have his case go to trial in the summer.

Maurice Lonnell Candies, 35, appeared in Warren Circuit Court on Monday for a pretrial conference in his case, in which he is charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence.

Warren Circuit Judge John Grise set the case for trial on July 18 after hearing from Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron about the status of the case.

Cohron said that he and Candies’ court-appointed lawyer, Eric Clark, had discussed the July trial date as a possibility and had also gone over issues relating to discovery evidence.

“I think that by February or March, we’ll have a better idea of whether the court will need to take action on anything,” Cohron said during Monday’s hearing.

Candies was ordered to return to court March 6 for a pretrial conference.

Police accuse Candies of fatally shooting Derek Lewis on Aug. 1 in the 1100 block of Payne Street.

Lewis ran to the 1000 block of Fair Street and was taken by medical helicopter to TriStar Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, where he died.

Candies was arrested Aug. 10 in Nebraska on a Bowling Green murder warrant and booked into Warren County Regional Jail on Sept. 1, one day after a grand jury returned indictments against him for murder, tampering with physical evidence and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.

According to Bowling Green Police Department records, Lewis shouted out a phone number and told police, “He’s trying to kill me. If I die, he killed me.”

Lewis said the man who shot him was associated with the phone number and that the man was a crack cocaine dealer.

Lewis also told police that the man who shot him was in a gold Ford Crown Victoria, according to police records.

Candies is in Warren County Regional Jail under a $1 million cash bond.

A co-defendant, Danielle Kena Houchins, 35, of Bowling Green, has pleaded not guilty to a count of first-degree hindering prosecution/apprehension.

Houchins is accused of assisting Candies during his effort to escape arrest. 

Houchins, who is free on a $1,000 bond, made a brief court appearance Monday and will return March 6 for a pretrial conference.

— Follow courts reporter Justin Story on Twitter @jstorydailynews or visit bgdailynews.com