Lexington murder trial ended in hung jury. Now suspect pleads guilty to lesser charge
A deadly Lexington shooting case with “a bit of history to it” was settled Monday morning when a man charged with murder was sentenced to six years in state prison after agreeing to plead guilty to an amended reckless homicide charge.
Robert Earley McKissic, 34, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide after previously standing trial for murder. McKissic was accused of shooting and killing 51-year-old Anthony Carter on Oct. 26, 2017. Jurors couldn’t reach a verdict and came back hung after a five-day trial and eight hours of deliberation in August.
McKissic was sentenced to five years for reckless homicide plus an additional year for being a persistent felony offender, a charge to which he also pleaded guilty. He’s been detained at the Lexington-Fayette County Detention Center since he was arrested in 2018. He was credited with nearly four years of time already served.
He’ll be eligible for parole and may be released within a week, his attorney said Monday. McKissic didn’t speak at his sentencing hearing Monday but testified on his own behalf in his murder trial and continued to claim his innocence, denying that he shot and killed Carter.
McKissic would’ve been tried again in March if prosecutors and the defense didn’t reach a plea agreement. The plea agreement was reached after prosecutors and defense attorneys were allowed to speak with the jury about the outcome in McKissic’s murder trial, according to Judge Thomas L. Travis.
Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn said McKissic’s conviction on a lesser charge was a result of the jury’s gridlock in the August trial.
“Today’s outcome reflects that a significant number of jurors had difficulty with finding him guilty as charged and as a result could not reach a verdict,” she said.
Carter’s family wrote a victim impact statement, detailing the effects of Carter’s death, and gave it to Travis before he sentenced McKissic Monday.
When asked by the judge if prosecutors had additional input Monday, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Amanda Parker said the victim impact statement “puts into words the toll that Mr. McKissic’s actions have taken better than anything I could say.”
McKissic’s attorney, Bridget Hofler, said the defense was ready to go back to trial if they didn’t get a plea deal. McKissic took the plea deal because it allowed him a quicker way to get out of jail, she said.
“If you’ve sat in jail for four years, aren’t you going to grab it and go?” Hofler asked of McKissic accepting the plea deal.
Joshua Powell, an investigator who worked for McKissic during the case, said at least nine jurors voted not guilty in McKissic’s murder trial.
“While Robert Mckissic wanted to ‘clear his name,’ he understood it could be years to do that,” Powell said. “And while accepting this plea, he could be home with his family by Christmas.”
The trial featured witness testimony from Ashley Halcomb, Carter’s girlfriend. Halcomb said she saw McKissic shoot and kill Carter.
Halcomb told a 911 dispatcher, “I saw the guy shoot him. I know who he is ... it’s Rob,” according to tape played at the trial.
But Hofler asserted that Halcomb’s description of the shooter didn’t match McKissic, and she didn’t actually know who shot Carter. She said during the trial that Halcomb “made a mistake.”
“After reviewing all testimonies and evidence, the jury is still unable to reach a unanimous verdict,” the jury said in a note to Fayette Circuit Judge Thomas L. Travis, who presided over McKissic’s trial. The jury came back with the note just after midnight on Aug. 10.
This story was originally published December 20, 2021 at 11:29 AM.