YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony Donofrio has set a trial date of Aug. 17 for Nicholas Cunningham, 34, of Alliance, to stand trial in the October 2023 killing of Geena Wade, 44, in her Smith Township home north of Beloit.

In an April 9 judgment entry, Donofrio set a deadline of June 1 for Dr. John M. Fabian of Austin, Texas, to complete an evaluation of Cunningham to determine if Cunningham is competent to stand trial. Donofrio set a hearing for June 4 for the parties to discuss the results.

Prior to the April 9 ruling, Cunningham had been set for trial April 20. But the attorneys in the case held a “counsel only status hearing” April 8, resulting in the April 9 judgment entry, which noted that the defense was “still waiting” for the competency report from Fabian.

The entry states Fabian was going to interview Cunningham April 14. And based on the “delayed report,” the trial was being moved to Aug. 17.

In late October, Donofrio ordered the competency evaluation after Cunningham’s attorney, Michael Kivlighan, asked for one. Kivlighan said he had “concerns that (Cunningham) is not presently competent and does not presently have sufficient ability to consult with his lawyer and with a reasonable degree of rational understanding, nor does he have a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.”

Donofrio also at the same time authorized an evaluation to provide a “second opinion” on the same issue in an attempt to not further delay the case. There was no mention of a second opinion in the most recent document.

WADE’S FAMILY

Michelle Hively of Canton, sister of Gena Wade, talked in a May 2024 interview 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. Cunningham is charged with aggravated murder, aggravated burglary, violation of a protection order and other charges in Wade’s death.

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.”

After that, Cunningham started to make death threats, Hively said.

Cunningham was evaluated for competency one earlier time after being indicted in the Wade murder. He was found not competent, was restored to competency at a state mental hospital in April 2025. That October, Kivlighan received permission for the second evaluation.