Is KY man fit for trial in death of former lawmaker’s daughter? Arguments continue
For the fourth time, Shannon Gilday’s mental fitness was discussed at length Monday in the Madison County Courthouse.
Gilday, 26, faces charges of murder, assault, three counts of attempted murder, burglary and criminal mischief, and a potential death penalty sentence, for a 2022 home invasion. He’s accused of killing Jordan Morgan, a 32-year-old lawyer and daughter of former state lawmaker C. Wesley Morgan, while she slept in the family’s home.
Gilday’s mental competency has taken center stage in pre-trial hearings as his lawyers continue to argue he was showing symptoms of schizoaffective disorder at the time of the crime.
The disorder, described by expert witnesses Monday in court as a mental illness with symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, is one of four the state says excludes a defendant from the death penalty.
Since Gilday’s last hearing in January, the prosecution hired a forensic psychiatrist to evaluate Gilday’s mental fitness to stand trial. That doctor who testified Monday interviewed Gilday for three hours in March and reviewed case materials, like medical records from before the crime, to determine if Gilday was exempt from being sentenced to the death penalty.
Morgan’s family has continued to pursue the death penalty even as the trial date has been pushed back and the team of prosecutors has changed. Gilday’s parents were in court Monday, as were some of Morgan’s family and friends who wore shirts with her portrait on the front and the Sixth Amendment — the right to a fair and speedy trial — in script font on the back.
Madison County Circuit Judge Cole Adams Maier asked the teams of lawyers to submit briefs arguing their respective positions by the middle of August.
A status conference will follow in October, she said.
Commonwealth’s psych evaluation
Dr. George Parker, Indiana University School of Medicine’s director of forensic psychiatry, said he was contacted by prosecutors to determine if Gilday fit the state’s criteria for “a defendant with serious mental illness.”
Parker said he looked through Gilday’s medical records from before the home invasion and found Gilday had been diagnosed with anxiety. Those same records, Parker found, do not say that at the time of the crime, Gilday had any of the serious mental illnesses the state says should prevent him from a death penalty sentence.
During cross-examination, Parker said he did not review medical records from after the February 2022 home invasion or include other documents in his evaluation, as they were not pertinent to determining if Gilday had symptoms of a serious mental illness before the offense.
Psychiatrists who previously testified in court, and did so again Monday, said Gilday has schizoaffective disorder and has shown symptoms of paranoia, hallucinations and delusions.
Those symptoms have subsided with monitored treatment in custody, they say, which is a sign Gilday is mentally ill. But Parker said the schizoaffective diagnosis is a retrospective, which is not necessarily what the state protects.
Other evidence provided to the court
Two other psychiatry experts who testified said the disorder has an “age of onset” — years when someone begins exhibiting psychosis — of between 18 and 22, and that getting a diagnosis typically takes months.
Those with the disorder sometimes don’t know they are mentally ill because their delusions are reality, one psychiatrist said. Because of the stigma surrounding mental health and especially schizophrenia, someone experiencing psychosis may not detail their symptoms fully to a general practitioner or other health care professional.
The defense entered about a dozen pieces of new evidence into the record Monday, including a culmination of Gilday’s medical records, police interviews with his family following the crime, one of Gilday’s notebooks and other documents they say show he was exhibiting signs of schizoaffective disorder in February 2022.
Shooting and home invasion
Police and prosecutors say Gilday broke into the multi-million dollar Morgan family home in Richmond on Feb. 22, 2022, shooting and killing Jordan Morgan and shooting and injuring Wesley Morgan, who shot back.
After the shooting, Gilday drove to Florida, then put a Georgia license plate on his car, which later broke down. He abandoned it and returned to Kentucky, where a sheriff’s deputy found him walking in Madison County six days after the deadly home invasion.
Several weeks later, Gilday admitted to the crime. In an interview with police, Gilday said he wanted access to the family’s underground bunker.
Gilday said he wanted to secure the bunker for his family and friends due in part to anxiety about the threat of nuclear war.
A search warrant at Gilday’s apartment found he had directions to the Morgan home and notes about their sleep schedules.
In Gilday’s car, investigators found the AR-15 and camouflage clothes that were used during the break-in.
This story was originally published July 1, 2025 at 1:00 AM.
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