SAN DIEGO -- A second mental competency evaluation was ordered Wednesday for a man charged in the robbery-slayings of an El Cajon liquor store co-owner and one of her clerks, and in a separate case, with holding up a bank.

Jean P. Rices, 25, could face the death penalty if convicted in the March 1 shooting deaths of Heather Mattia and Firas Eiso.

Rices was already in custody for allegedly robbing a Lakeside bank last summer when he was charged along with co-defendant Anthony James Miller, 21, with two counts of murder and special circumstances of murder during a robbery and burglary.

Rices' attorney on the bank robbery case asked a judge to suspend criminal proceedings and evaluate whether Rices understood the charges against him and could assist his lawyer at trial.

A report presented to Judge Kerry Wells Wednesday indicated Rices was mentally competent, but attorney Bruce Sobel successfully requested that another doctor examine his client.

The judge set a Jan. 26 hearing to revisit that issue.

Both Rices and Miller are due back in court next week on the murder case, at which time a Jan. 22 preliminary hearing might be rescheduled, said Deputy District Attorney Polly Shamoon.

Two bandits in hooded jackets and gloves entered Granada Liquor on Broadway about 11 p.m. the night of the crime, pulled a gun on the victims and looted the cash register.

Mattia, 22, and Eiso, a 23-year-old clerk, were both shot in the back of the head.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis has yet to decide whether Rices or Miller -- or both -- will face the death penalty if convicted.