YOUNGSTOWN — After evaluations and treatment of Nicholas A. Cunningham, 33, have restored him to competency to stand trial in the Oct. 26, 2023, killing of Gena M. Wade, 44, at Wade’s rural home on Courtney Road in Smith Township, a visiting judge on Wednesday set a trial date for Cunningham of Nov. 3.

Cunningham, of Alliance, is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, violation of a protection order and other charges.

Cunningham, his attorney and prosecutors appeared in the courtroom of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Donofrio, where Visiting Judge W. Wyatt McKay was advised that the parties do not plan to ask for an additional evaluation of whether Cunningham was sane at the time of the killing.

The parties did not discuss the results of the recent evaluation conducted to determine whether Cunningham was sane, but the fact that the case is moving forward indicates that he apparently was.

The next pretrial hearing in the case is set for 1:30 p.m. Aug. 18.

McKay asked Cunningham if he understood the waiver of speedy trial time Cunningham signed to allow the attorneys time to prepare for his trial, and he replied, “a little bit.”

So McKay explained that prosecutors have an obligation to try Cunningham within a specific amount of time unless he waives that obligation, which is what the document indicates Cunningham wishes to do.

Cunningham was sent to Heartland Behavioral Healthcare, a state mental hospital in Massillon, May 4, 2024, after he was found not competent to stand trial. The goal was to provide treatment and restore him to competency, which was successful.

Dr. Timothy Kantz, a psychiatrist affiliated with Heartland, evaluated Cunningham this year and found that he is now competent to stand trial, Mahoning County Prosecutor Lynn Maro said at a hearing in April.

Donofrio said he read the report and found that Cunningham is “capable of understanding the nature … of the (criminal) proceedings against him, that he has an understanding of the charges, the seriousness of the charges.”

Michelle Hively of Canton, sister of Gena Wade, talked a year ago about her family’s frustration that Wade was killed despite her sister and other family members having a civil stalking protection order against Cunningham.

She said her family told police in February 2023 that Cunningham was making threats against her sister and a young female family member.

Hively and her fiance, Richard Hashman, said Hively and her sister had known Cunningham for many years because both women provided care to Cunningham’s mother, Kathy Cunningham, for about 20 years.

“We felt bad for Nicholas. We gave him rides to the gas station,” Hively said.

Hashman said Nicholas Cunningham “didn’t have many friends, so (the sisters) tried to look out for him a little bit.”

But that all changed in late 2022 when Hively and her family learned that Cunningham had a criminal record from 2015 involving a child. Hively said Wade found out that Cunningham was posting “inappropriate” things about the young family member on Facebook, so they “told him to stay away,” Hively said.

Hively said that her daughter, her sister and her mother obtained civil stalking protection orders against Cunningham on March 31, 2023, after Cunningham made threats toward the family.