BRIGHAM CITY — Defense attorneys again are questioning whether Jonathan Mendoza Llana is mentally competent to face charges in the rifle slaying of a driver on Interstate 84 three years ago.

Llana, 48, has been at the Utah State Hospital in Provo most of the time since his arrest the day after the May 22, 2019, shooting in Box Elder County that killed Dennis Gwyther, 50, of Salt Lake City. State psychiatrists earlier this year informed the 1st District Court in Brigham City that Llana’s mental competency had been restored.

However, Judge Brandon Maynard has scheduled a Dec. 6 evidentiary hearing on the question after Llana’s attorneys hired a defense expert to evaluate the state findings.

This is the second time the State Hospital has reported restoring Llana to competency. Its previous finding, in February 2020, was challenged by Llana’s defense team, and as a result, the competency restoration process began again.

Efforts to contact Rich Gallegos, Llana’s attorney, were not immediately successful. But Blair Wardle, the Box Elder County Attorney’s Office prosecutor on the Llana case, said Friday that the results of the defense expert’s evaluation are not yet available.

In cases of psychiatric issues involving a defendant, lengthy delays between the crime and a case’s resolution are not uncommon. In Llana’s case, “The victim’s family is adamant that they want to move forward, and we do too,” Wardle said. “But we all want to make sure we do it the right way.”

According to charging documents, Llana shot at least six rounds from a high-powered rifle at a vehicle on the highway. Gwyther was killed and a passenger was injured.

Llana, of Los Angeles, was arrested the next day in Idaho. He is charged with aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder and six counts of unlawful discharge of a firearm, all first-degree felonies. The Box Elder County Attorney’s Office has served notice it plans to seek the death penalty.

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