By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

A Shelby County judge has dismissed a murder charge against an 87-year-old Pelham man after the suspect died while in the care of a local hospice in December 2013.

According to Shelby County Circuit Court documents filed on Feb. 18, Judge Dan Reeves has dismissed a murder charge against William Virgil Proctor, who died on Dec. 11, 2013.

William Virgil Proctor was an Alzheimer’s and dementia patient, and was under round-the-clock medical care before he died, Proctor’s attorney, Barry Alvis, said previously.

Proctor was arrested by Pelham police officers on May 14, 2010, and charged with stabbing and killing his 77-year-old wife, Gwendolyn Elizabeth Tuggle Proctor, while she slept at the couple’s house in the 1300 block of Calliston Way in Pelham’s Ballantrae neighborhood.

In 2012, Shelby County Circuit Court Judge Dan Reeves ordered Proctor undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

In a motion filed by Alvis in Shelby County Circuit Court in September, Alvis requested the court dismiss the charges against Proctor and instead place him in the care of a secure nursing facility.

Over the past several months, Proctor’s physical condition and mental condition deteriorated significantly, and Proctor became unable to walk independently, according to Alvis’ motion.

Included in Alvis’ motion were copies of reports submitted by forensic psychologist Glen King and by the Taylor Hardin Secure Medical Facility in Tuscaloosa. Both reports claimed Proctor was unable to stand trial due to his medical condition, and requested he be placed in a secure medical facility.