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Thomas Farrell was struck and killed in a hit-and-run while jogging near Cave Spring Elementary School in late January. No one has been charged in that case.

Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Jeffery Young (left) made his first appearance Tuesday in Floyd County Circuit Court. He is charged with malicious wounding after being accused of assaulting a woman outside a supermarket in Floyd.

FLOYD -- Almost six months after a hit-and-run killed runner Thomas Farrell in Roanoke County, authorities investigating his death are keeping a close watch on a malicious wounding case in Floyd County.

The defendant in the Floyd County case, Jeffery M. Young, is also a person of interest in the January hit-and-run, Roanoke County police Lt. Chuck Mason said Tuesday.

Young's lawyer in the Floyd County case has filed a motion to argue that Young was insane at the time of the alleged malicious wounding, which happened just two days after Farrell was killed.

Young, 30, has not been charged in the hit-and-run.

Judge Ray Grubbs on Tuesday granted Floyd County Commonwealth's Attorney Stephanie Shortt's request that Young undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

Young already has been evaluated once at the request of his lawyer, Fred Kellerman. The outcome of that evaluation was not discussed Tuesday.

Defense lawyers generally file motions for an insanity defense only if the evaluation has determined that their client meets the legal criteria -- which does not happen very often.

About 1 percent of felony cases involve pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity, and only a small fraction of those result in acquittals, according to the Institute of Law, Psychiatry & Public Policy in Charlottesville.

Young has been in custody since January, when he was arrested and charged with malicious wounding. He is accused of hitting a woman with a vehicle and then attacking her with a stick outside Slaughters' Supermarket.

Shortly after his arrest, Young was taken to Central State Hospital, a state mental facility in Petersburg that conducts psychiatric evaluations.

He is now being held at the New River Valley Regional Jail without bond. A trial date has not been set.

The outcome of the Floyd County case will have no bearing on Roanoke County's investigation, Mason said.

"It is certainly a matter of some interest to us, but I don't think it's particularly affecting anything," he said.

Farrell, a 49-year-old lawyer, was killed Jan. 28 while running along Springlawn Avenue near Cave Spring Elementary School in Southwest Roanoke County.

Police have previously said that the vehicle suspected in the hit-and-run was registered to Young but had not said until Tuesday that Young is a person of interest.

Mason did not want to discuss the details of the investigation, but he did say that police have received the results of tests done on potential evidence.

Police are still investigating and detectives have been talking to Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Leach.

"We have by no means forgotten Mr. Farrell," Mason said.

Leach also would not be specific about the investigation or say if charges were likely to be filed.

"We're waiting on the results of the investigation," he said.

"They [police] have work to do, and they're doing it. They are proceeding as quickly as they can."

Staff writer Laurence Hammack contributed to this report.