A man accused of carrying out a murder for hire in Simpson County will undergo a psychiatric evaluation that a judge has ordered to be completed by March 3.

Xavior Caine Posey, 25, has been transported to the Federal Correctional Institute in Englewood, Colorado, for the evaluation.

Posey and Freddy Gonzalez have been charged in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green with murder for hire, with prosecutors alleging that Gonzalez offered to pay Posey to kill Brian Russell, 43, of Franklin, who was found shot to death on Dec. 30, 2020, at his home.

Posey’s attorney, Kyle Bumgarner, had requested an evaluation for his client, citing observations of a “marked decline in Mr. Posey’s ability to participate in his defense” while Posey has been held in isolation at Grayson County Detention Center, according to court filings.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Greg Stivers issued an order on Dec. 28 for the evaluation to be performed.

A Feb. 17 deadline to complete the evaluation had been set, but on Jan. 23, clinical psychologist Courtney Mills requested on behalf of the Colorado detention center that the deadline be extended.

In a letter submitted to Stivers, Mills said a “high volume of forensic cases” assigned to the detention center has made it necessary to request an extension of the deadline to complete the evaluation.

Mills requested the deadline be extended to March 3, with the report being sent to the judge by March 17, which Stivers accepted.

Posey and Gonzalez are currently set to go to trial on July 30 in Bowling Green.

Both the death penalty and life imprisonment are potential penalties if both men are convicted as charged, though the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky has not indicated it intends to seek the death penalty.

According to court records, Gonzalez had been in a relationship with Russell’s ex-wife, who then returned to Russell to rekindle their relationship shortly before the shooting took place.

Federal prosecutors allege that Gonzlez and Posey were in communication with each other over CashApp regarding the plot against Russell.

Another person, Andy Schmucker, has pleaded guilty to a count of being an accessory after the fact to a murder for hire.

Authorities say Schmucker met Posey in Bowling Green the night of the shooting and drove him to Franklin, dropping him off near Russell’s residence after learning from Posey that he had been hired to kill someone, and then driving Posey away from the scene.

Schmucker, who awaits sentencing, claimed to have heard three shots fired before Posey ran back to Schmucker’s truck.