Man found competent for trial in two deaths

DETROIT (AP) -- A 66-year-old Detroit man will go to trial in the shooting deaths of two women at a retirement home. Mike Reda was found competent to stand trial during a hearing last Friday in Wayne County Circuit Court. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and assault with intent to murder in the Oct. 20 slayings of 59-year-old Deborah Socia and 61-year-old Maria Gonzalez. The women were shot with an assault rifle. Reda told police that he had dated the same woman for several years and that the two shooting victims befriended her and frequently kept the girlfriend away from him. The Detroit News reports that Reda did not agree last Friday to a prosecutor's offer of a plea deal to second-degree murder. His trial is set to start March 31. Published: Tue, Jan 14, 2014