PROVO — After being treated for nearly nine months at Utah State Hospital, a man accused of fatally shooting his brother has been declared mentally competent to stand trial for murder.

Eryk Drej is charged with first-degree felony murder in the shooting death of his 25-year-old brother Lukasz Drej in the driveway of their American Fork home.

Drej, who suffers from schizophrenia, was reviewed by doctors on two previous occasions. Both times he was found incompetent to be tried on the charges.

However, based on the most recent doctors' reports, 4th District Judge Samuel McVey decided Tuesday that Drej was "able to understand the nature of the legal proceedings."

Tom Means, Drej's attorney, said he will work with prosecutors on a plea deal.

Attorneys were unable to talk about specifics while Drej was ruled incompetent, said Deputy Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman.

McVey also ruled Tuesday that Drej stay in the state hospital for a few days until the Utah County Jail can arrange the proper medical attention so he can remain competent.

But how long he can stay in the hospital is up to the hospital, Means said.

Drej was arrested in June after police responded to his mother's house where Drej was standing armed in the driveway. He told officers they'd have to kill him before he gave himself up and refused to drop a 9 mm pistol and a shotgun.

Police were able to subdue Drej with force and later found the body of Lukasz Drej at the bottom of an outside set of stairs.

Drej later told police he had shot his brother 10 times. Police say he dragged the body out of a truck and down the stairs, then hit it with the butt of a rifle.

Drej later allegedly confessed to police that he had killed his brother to prevent him from killing an unidentified woman and selling her organs on the black market, according to court documents.

Police also found yellow smiley faces all over the house, which Drej told them were a protection against evil, according to court documents.

While in the jail, he was being held on $750,000 cash-only bail, which will continue when he is placed back in the jail.

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