Man seeks to change his plea

The suspect in the shootings faces the death penalty if convicted.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- A man charged in a series of highway shootings that terrorized central Ohio for weeks and left one woman dead is changing his plea to innocent by reason of insanity, one of his attorneys said today.
Charles A. McCoy Jr.'s change in plea from innocent to innocent by reason of insanity was being filed this morning at Franklin County Common Pleas Court, attorney Andrew Haney said. McCoy, 29, is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, according to court documents and his attorneys.
McCoy faces the death penalty on charges in the shootings on the Interstate 270 outerbelt around Columbus and other roads between November and February. Numerous cars were struck during the spree, as well as a house and an elementary school.
Gail Knisley, 62, of Washington Court House, was killed in November after a bullet struck her friend's car on I-270. They were out on a morning of errands together.
McCoy was arrested in Las Vegas in March, days after his name surfaced as a chief suspect in the shootings.
Competent to stand trial
A two-page opinion issued by Judge Charles A. Schneider of Franklin County Common Pleas Court Tuesday said McCoy was competent to stand trial. The evaluation methods by Dr. Mark Mills, a psychiatrist who examined McCoy, were valid, according to the ruling.
McCoy's mother refused to answer questions when reached at the parole and community service office where she works.
She referred questions to Haney. Messages were also left at his father's workplace and the Franklin County prosecutor's office.
McCoy came to authorities' attention in March after someone -- authorities will not say who -- called police to say McCoy's father had guns belonging to his son.
Charles McCoy Sr. gave police the guns after checking with his son and his ex-wife.
Ardith McCoy testified at a March court hearing she found pieces of a disassembled handgun under her son's mattress in mid-February and turned them over to her ex-husband. She had previously given her ex-husband another handgun found in August and two shotguns she had found under her son's bed in December.
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