Gary Chavez told Judge Pro Tem Daniel Murphy in Starke Circuit Court Friday morning that he will not be able to afford a private attorney.
A status hearing was held in his case on Friday to see where Chavez was in terms of obtaining counsel. He hasn’t been represented since he appeared for his initial hearing in August. Murphy informed Chavez that a court appointed attorney will be assigned to his case.
Chavez was formally charged with murder, kidnapping and carjacking in an incident on June 6. Chavez is accused of beating his estranged wife, Kimberly Chavez, to death at his home in Knox, kidnapping an employee at gunpoint and fleeing in a vehicle from Mark Bailey’s Discount Center in North Judson, and carjacking a vehicle from a residence in English Lake at gunpoint. He then fled into Porter County where he carjacked another vehicle and led police on a chase. Police used stop sticks to get Chavez to stop. When officers approached his vehicle, Chavez shot himself in the face. He was in the hospital for several weeks to recover and was extradited to Starke County at the end of August to answer to serious felony charges.
He remains in the Starke County Jail with no bond.
