Third suspect pleads ‘not guilty’ to alleged involvement in Bardstown mother’s murder
The third suspect arrested in connection to the disappearance of Bardstown mother Crystal Rogers made his first appearance in Nelson County Circuit Court Thursday and pleaded not guilty.
Steven Eugene Lawson, 53, of Chaplin, joined Joseph Lawson and Brooks Houck as the three suspects connected to Rogers’ death. Houck was the boyfriend of Rogers when she went missing and is the father to one of her children.
During the morning arraignment, Lawson’s attorney, Ted Lavit, entered a not guilty plea on his client’s behalf. Steven Lawson appeared over Zoom from the Nelson County Detention Center.
Lavit requested a bond reduction for his client, which was set on Dec. 20. Lawson’s bond is $500,000 full-cash. Nelson Circuit Judge Charles Simms III opted to keep the bond the same, but a formal bond hearing is expected to take place Jan. 4.
Nearly a terabyte of evidence was turned over to Lavit by Special Prosecutor Shane Young, who is the prosecutor in the case. Young felt the bond was set appropriately for the “nature of the circumstances.”
Steven Lawson was arrested Dec. 8 and detained in Indiana at his mother’s residence. He was booked into the Nelson County Detention Center on Dec. 19, according to online jail records.
It’s unclear if Steven and Joseph Lawson are related. WDRB in Louisville reported that Steven Lawson talked to Brooks Houck over the phone the night after Rogers’ disappearance.
Court documents were unsealed in Steven Lawson’s case on Dec. 8. His indictment says that on July 3 or July 4, 2015, Lawson “agreed to aid one or more persons in the planning or commission of the crime or an attempt or solicitation to commit the crime, when he, and/or a co-conspirator, intentionally caused the death of another.”
The indictment charging him with evidence tampering said that he destroyed, mutilated, concealed, removed or altered physical evidence which he believed was about to be produced or used in an official proceeding with intent to reduce its ability to be used in that proceeding.
Brooks Houck, who has been housed in multiple jails since his arrest, was moved to the Oldham County Detention Center last week. His next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 8, and he is being held on a $10 million bond.
Joseph Lawson, 32, is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 5. He was the first person involved to be arrested in connection to the case.
This story was originally published December 21, 2023 at 9:34 AM.
