Madison woman can stand trial in sister’s death

A judge has ruled a Madison woman accused of letting her sister die is competent to stand trial after all.

Prosecutors have accused Veronica King of leaving her 72-year-old sister, Mary Coleman, on the floor to die after Coleman fell in King’s house in May 2009. King, now 73, faces a number of charges, including first-degree reckless homicide.

Dane County Circuit Judge Julie Genovese in January ruled King wasn’t competent to stand trial and suspended her case. Genovese on Wednesday ruled King was competent after reviewing a doctor’s progress report on her.

Her attorneys plan to contest the report’s finding at a July evidentiary hearing.

Prosecutors charged King’s son, Steven King, in Coleman’s death, too, but Genovese ruled in October he wasn’t competent to stand trial.