MEMPHIS, TN -- The man accused of killing a Memphis Police officer and a civilian made his first appearance in court Wednesday, July 7th, 2011. Alex Haydel stood before a judge in Shelby County Criminal Court facing two counts of first-degree murder. The whole thing was over in less than 10 minutes.
Haydel appeared quiet and reserved, nothing like the man who's charged with killing two men in a drunken rage on Sunday, July 3rd.
"I think now he realizes what he did," says George Haydel, Alex's father. "It's impacting him how bad this really is."
Haydel's first-degree murder charge means there was premeditation when he shot and killed Officer Timothy Warren and his wife's ex-husband, Arthur Warren, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Memphis.
"We'll start looking into and see what we need to do to represent him," says Gerald Skahan, the public defender assigned to represent Haydel. "I don't know anymore about this at this point, other than what I've heard from you guys and the media."
Skahan was appointed to the case since Haydel can't afford his own lawyer. After Haydel was charged Wednesday morning, the two spoke for the first time in the courtroom.
"I talked to him briefly, told him who I was. It's the first time I've met him," says Skahan. "We'll go down and talk to him and get going."
Haydel's face still bears signs of the fight he was in with police. His mental state is still in question.
"Whenever you've got a situation like this, competency and mental state are always an issue," Skahan tells abc24.com. "Whether it is in this case, time will tell. I'd be guessing if I said I knew."
While the details of Haydel's case are being worked out, Arthur Warren's mother says she knows what she wants to happen.
"I hope he gets life for it," Ruth Warren says. "Or I hope they kill him. I hope they do something for it. That's not right."
Haydel will remain locked up until his next court date on July 12th, 2011. The judge ordered him to continue being held in jail without bond.
