ST. MATTHEWS--The death penalty trial for a Virginia man charged in the killing of an off-duty South Carolina law enforcement officer and a multi-state crime spree has been scheduled for Jan. 23.

Mikal Deen Mahdi, 21, has been charged in the shooting death of Orangeburg Public Safety Department Capt. James Myers last July. Police said Mahdi was on the run after killing a convenience store clerk in Winston-Salem, N.C.

He was arrested three days later in Florida still driving Myers' truck, which was filled with weapons, ammunition and body armor, prosecutors have said.

Glenn Walters was appointed as Mahdi's new attorney after attorney Katherine Hudgins said she knew several people who had been interviewed by investigators. Walters will work with defense attorney Carl B. Grant.

Grant asked Circuit Judge Clifton Newman for a competency evaluation, but the judge didn't immediately rule. Instead, he asked both sides to file arguments with his office within 10 days.