-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert Murder defendant Taylor Blaha with her attorney Charles Kenville in Webster County Court on Jan. 27.

A Webster County District Court judge has denied murder defendant Taylor Blaha’s request for a new defense attorney.

A hearing was held Friday morning at the Webster County Courthouse. After hearing from Blaha and her counsel, Charles Kenville, District Court Judge Christopher Polking found that the breakdown in attorney-client relationship was due to Blaha’s refusal to cooperate with her defense attorney.

During the hearing, Kenville made an oral motion for an examination for determination of competency to proceed. Polking suspended case proceedings and scheduled a hearing to determine if there’s probable cause to sustain allegations of incompetency.

Blaha is accused of killing her newborn baby in a Fort Dodge apartment in November 2022.

See Saturday’s Messenger for a full story.