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Cherry will undergo further evaluations by the Alabama Department of Mental Health.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) -- An Alabama judge ruled Monday that a former Ku Klux Klansman, charged with first-degree murder in a 1963 Birmingham church bombing, is not competent to stand trial.

Bobby Frank Cherry, 72, is the only living suspect in the case not to face trial for the bombing that ripped through the 16th Street Baptist Church, killing four girls in one of the defining moments of the civil rights era.

Judge James S. Garrett said prosecutors did not prove "by clear, convincing and unequivocal evidence" that Cherry could assist his attorneys and understand trial proceedings.

The judge said he would order further evaluations by the Alabama Department of Mental Health.

RESOURCES Birmingham church bombing timeline

Cherry's attorney, Roger Bass, said he was not surprised by the judge's ruling because a government expert said his client, who suffers from dementia, was incompetent to stand trial.

"It's clear that Bobby has damage, physical damage to his brain," Bass said, adding that his client can't "fake a CAT scan."

The attorney faulted prosecutors for not seeking the case sooner.

"It's not Bobby Cherry's fault the government waited 38 years. If they would have done this 20 years ago, five years ago," Bass said, "his competency wouldn't have been an issue."

The judge's ruling dealt a blow to prosecutors, who scored a major victory just months ago when another KKK member, Thomas Blanton, 62, was convicted in the bombing.

Blanton was given four life sentences for the deaths of Denise McNair, 11, and Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson, all 14.

Robert "Dynamite Bob" Chambliss was convicted of murder in 1977 and died in prison. Another suspect, Herman Cash, died before he was charged.