Woman charged with crockpot slaying competent for trial

LIVONIA, Mich. (AP) - A suburban Detroit judge says a 50-year-old woman accused of beating a longtime friend to death with a crockpot is mentally competent to stand trial on a first-degree murder charge.

Authorities say Tewana Sullivan of Detroit attacked 66-year-old Cheryl Livy last October at Livy's apartment in a senior housing complex in Livonia.

A Livonia district judge ordered a competency exam in November at prosecutors' request.

Sullivan's probable cause hearing is scheduled Feb. 5. First-degree murder carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison without possibility of parole.