PORTLAND — Murder defendant Kawlija Scott, of Pendleton, remains in custody while awaiting transportation to a federal medical facility due to his mental status.

Scott, 26, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, faces charges of second-degree murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in the slaying of Gabriel Freeman, 27, in May 2022 at his residence on Parr Lane on the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Freeman died at CHI St. Anthony Hospital, Pendleton. Scott has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The federal court in Portland on Nov. 8 held a competency hearing for Scott and found he was “suffering from a mental disease or defect rendering him mentally incompetent to the extent that he is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him and to assist properly in his own defense of this criminal matter,” according to court documents.

U.S. district Judge Michael Mosman subsequently ordered Scott’s commitment to a suitable facility within four months. The government on Dec. 14 filed a status report alerting the court that Scott remained in custody and was not in a medical facility. According to court documents, the federal Bureau of Prisons reported to the U.S. attorney’s office of Oregon on Feb. 13 reported it anticipated transporting Scott to a facility in March before the four-month mark.

And murder defendant Skyler Crowe, 23 of Pendleton, now is heading for federal trial in March.

Crowe, 23, faces a charge of first-degree murder in the stabbing death Sept. 29, 2021, of Richard Higheagle, 38. Crowe attacked Higheagle at his home on the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and he later died at a hospital.

Crowe’s defense attorney, Conor Huseby, on Nov. 14 filed a declaration in support of his motion to postpone trial. While the case is nominally about the homicide on that night in 2021, according to Huseby, the case also is about years of events that led to the death of the victim and Crowe’s arrest.

“The defense has spent the last year working hard to investigate the case,” Huseby informed the court. “Since the last trial setting, defense counsel disclosed the results of its investigation and work with experts to the government in order to resolve the case. The government and defense are working diligently and in good faith to resolve the case, but resolution requires the input of multiple stakeholders and will not occur before the current trial date.”

Huseby at the time asked for 120 days to resolve the case or, if resolution fails, for the parties to be ready for trial. The government did not oppose the request, and Judge Michael Simon set a new five-day jury trial for March 28.

In another action, the U.S. Attorney Natalie Wight of the District of Oregon reassigned the prosecution from Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Cadotte to Assistant U.S. Attorney Pamela Paaso.

Court records also state Crowe is out of custody and living in Pendleton and in compliance with the conditions of her pretrial release.