DADE CITY - More than two years after his arrest, one of two men accused of killing 9-year-old Sharra Ferger demanded Thursday that the two defendants be tried separately.
Attorney Charles Lykes, representing Gary Steven Cannon, filed his demand in Circuit Court. A hearing is set for Sept. 18.
Cannon, 22, and Gary Elishi Cochran, 37, are each charged with first-degree murder in Sharra's rape and slaying in October 1997. She was abducted from her Blanton home, and her body was found the next day, Oct. 3, in a nearby field.
Cannon was a friend of Sharra's family. Cochran was the girl's uncle. Until now, the two men have been proceeding as if they would be tried together.
But Lykes' motion argues that Cochran's attorneys may try to show their client is mentally deficient, placing more of the blame on Cannon. Lykes also claims a dispute Cochran had with Sharra's mother before the girl's slaying may taint Cannon unfairly.
The two men were indicted in June 2001. No trial date has been set. Both men are serving unrelated prison terms.
