A judge denied a bond request on Friday for a man accused in a Laurel Hill slaying earlier this week.

Brandon Nicholas Huneycutt, 23, is being held without bond in the Scotland County jail on a first-degree murder charge for the shooting death of 30-year-old Harold Leon Cook.

Public Defender Jonathan McInnis requested District Court Judge John Horne, who presided at Huneycutt's first appearance, set a bond for the accused killer as the Scotland County District Attorney's Office was uncertain if it would seek the death penalty.

McInnis was appointed as Huneycutt's attorney until Indigent Defense Services can appoint an attorney qualified to handle a capital case.

"Our office has not had time to do a thorough evaluation," Assistant District Attorney Brandon Christian said, noting that Huneycutt had been arrested the day before.

"At this point, the request for a bond is denied," Horne said, saying he felt it was "not appropriate" for him to consider the matter at that hearing.

Huneycutt was arrested Thursday at his 916 Aberdeen Road home in Laurinburg when deputies were executing a search warrant that uncovered what investigators believe may be the murder weapon.

Cook, of Queen Road in Laurel Hill, was found dead in overgrowth along Armstrong Road on Thursday morning, according to the sheriff's office. He was shot twice, once in the head.

A deputy was investigating a missing persons report filed at 10 a.m. when he found the body. Cook was believed to have left home at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday to go to his third-shift job, but never arrived at work.

The sheriff's office has declined to release possible motives or what linked Huneycutt to the crime.

This is the first reported murder in Scotland County in 2010.