NATCHEZ — The trial of one of three men charged in the 2013 murder of a liquor store employee was delayed Tuesday pending results of a mental examination.

An Adams County Grand Jury indicted Kenneth J. Carver Jr. in November on charges of armed robbery and murder.

Carver’s trial was scheduled for this week, but District 6 Circuit Court Judge Forrest “Al” Johnson said Tuesday the court granted a repeal of the trial to allow Carver to receive a mental examination.

“He has some history of mental problems, so the court allowed that to proceed,” Johnson said. “There was a clear justification for doing that in this case.”

Johnson said he would call Carver back to court once the mental examination is complete, but didn’t have a timeline on when that would happen.

“We’re at the mercy of the examiners,” Johnson said.

Natchez police have said they believe Carver was one of three Natchez residents who ambushed Tyrone Bernard while he was closing up DD’s Package Store on Martin Luther King Jr. Street at approximately 10 p.m., Jan. 3, 2013.

Police said at the time the suspects were waiting in the alley beside the store for Bernard and rushed him when he exited the store.

Bernard reportedly fought with one of the suspects and then was shot.

Bernard attempted to leave the scene in his car, presumably to get help, but died shortly after getting in his vehicle from a single gunshot wound to the left abdomen.

Bernard, a Natchez native, was the father of three children and a U.S. Air Force Veteran.