Prosecutor to recommend that boy, 15, be tried as an adult in Metcalfe slayings

Prosecutors will recommend that a 15-year-old boy accused of killing a Metcalfe County couple be tried as an adult.

Under state law, there are several criteria under which a juvenile may be certified as a "youthful offender" to be tried in adult court.

One is that the juvenile was older than 14 and used a gun in a crime; another is that the juvenile was older than 14 and allegedly committed a Class A felony, said Karen Davis, commonwealth's attorney for Metcalfe and Barren counties.

It would appear as though the teen charged in the double homicide falls within the youthful offender category on both points, Davis said.

Prosecutors and police have not released the teen's name since he was charged. However, he was identified as Christopher L. Endicott in an Amber Alert police issued to search for him before his arrest.

Endicott is charged with murder in the shooting deaths of Gary Holloway, 50, and Barbara Holloway, 51, about 3 a.m. Tuesday at the mobile home where the three lived.

Davis said she and Metcalfe County Attorney Sharon Bowles Howard had agreed to recommend that a judge certify the teen to be tried as an adult.

The judge will decide whether to transfer the case from juvenile court, where cases are confidential.

That decision could be weeks away.

If Endicott is tried as an adult and convicted, he would face harsher penalties than he would in juvenile court.

However, he won't face the death penalty if he is convicted of murder. The U.S. Supreme Court has barred the death penalty for murderers who are younger than 18.

Family members of the slain couple hope the teen will be tried as an adult.

"He did an adult thing," said Ruby Whitehead of Cave City, a sister of Barbara Holloway. "He needs some real bad penalties."

Family members have said the Holloways were killed in their bed with a rifle Gary Holloway had used to hunt deer.

The couple had taken in Endicott — a second cousin of Barbara Holloway — because his father is in prison and his mother has not been a reliable caregiver, family members said

Family members said Endicott, an eighth-grader, had been seeing a 12-year-old girl for a few months.

The Holloways disapproved and had tried to get him to stop seeing her, which had caused some tension between them and the teen, family members said.

Endicott's desire to run away with the girl is the only indication of a possible motive for the slayings, state police Detective B.J Burton has said.

"He was obviously angry about something," said Trooper Billy Gregory, a state police spokesman.

Family members estimated Endicott took $1,500 or more from the Holloways before leaving in their 1997 Chevrolet Lumina, but he has not been charged with related crimes.

Endicott picked up the girl after the shootings, Burton said, but had sent her text messages earlier.

The girl told police she knew Endicott planned to take the car and come for her but said she did not know he would shoot the couple, Burton said.

The girl has not been charged.

Police issued an Amber Alert for Endicott and Kyra Shockley, 12, after family members found the Holloways' bodies Tuesday afternoon. The Herald-Leader normally does not identify juveniles in criminal cases, but both names were widely circulated as part of the alert.

Police issued the alert for Kyra, who had been missing since about 5 a.m., because they had information she might be with Endicott but didn't know whether she'd gone willingly, Burton said.

A firefighter spotted the car Endicott was driving late Tuesday.

As police closed in, Endicott drove off the road and through a fence. Police said they caught him and Kyra after a short foot chase.

That was about 20 hours after the shootings. Endicott and the girl had driven around at least part of that time, but they were caught within about 25 miles of the Holloways' home.

Burton said there's no indication Endicott and the girl left the state at any time. Endicott had never been out of the state, and it's not clear whether he knew how to read a map, Burton said.

In addition to murder, Endicott is charged with fleeing and evading police, first-degree wanton endangerment, reckless driving, driving without a license and third-degree criminal mischief. He is being held in the Adair County Youth Development Center.

If he is certified to be tried as an adult, his case would go before a grand jury, which could issue additional charges.

This story was originally published March 25, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Prosecutor to recommend that boy, 15, be tried as an adult in Metcalfe slayings."