A defense attorney is seeking a speedy trial in Limestone County for his defendant, a teenager accused of murdering three children and two adults, records show.

Mason Wayne Sisk, 16, remains in the Limestone County Jail without bond on four capital murder charges — one for each of his siblings and another for his father and stepmother. The five victims, whose ages range from 6 months to 38 years, were each shot once in their home in Elkmont in September 2019.

Three died in the home, while two others were taken by Air Evac to Huntsville Hospital. They later died from their injuries.

Sisk, who was 14 at the time, called 911 to report gunfire in his home, then allegedly confessed to Limestone County sheriff’s investigators that he fired the gun himself. He helped authorities locate the murder weapon, which LCSO said he had illegally obtained and had hidden before calling 911.

Sisk was arrested and kept a juvenile detention facility on five counts of juvenile murder. On Nov. 4, 2020, Judge Matthew Huggins ordered Sisk be transferred to Limestone County Jail.

Court records state there “are no reasonable grounds to believe (Sisk) is committable to an institution or agency for the mentally retarded or mentally ill,” Sisk “cannot be properly disciplined under juvenile law,” and it “is in the best interest of the community and of the child that he be placed under legal restraint and discipline.” As such, Sisk was set to be tried as an adult.

He has remained in the county jail since Nov. 5, 2020, and on Tuesday, his attorney filed a motion to move the process further along. It’s not clear just how much help the motion will be, as Sisk is now one of several in Limestone County who are accused of murder and awaiting trial, some of whom have been waiting since 2016 or longer for their moment before the jury.

Further complicating court schedules is the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Jury trials were placed on hold for several months last year, and not everyone who receives a jury summons feels comfortable sitting in a room full of strangers, even if socially distanced and masked, for jury selection.

Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones shared a priority list of cases in September 2020, before Sisk was announced to be tried as an adult, in which Jones listed multiple murder cases that he aimed to try once trials resumed Oct. 19, 2020.

Of those, five are currently scheduled for trial in February, with a sixth set for trial in March. Three of the defendants have had attorneys file motions requesting speedy trials, with one of those having requested it twice.