Murder charges against an Eclectic teenager accused of killing his parents were dismissed on Monday by 19th Judicial Circuit District Attorney Randall Houston.
“As prosecutors, our job is to find the truth and do justice,” Houston said. “When we can’t find the truth, it is impossible to do justice.”
Jesse Madison Holton, 19, was initially arrested and charged with the murder of his mother and father, April Owenby Holton and Jesse Michael Holton, in September 2016.
On Sept. 11, 2016, Elmore County Sheriff deputies were called to the Holton residence on Lindsey Road in Eclectic when Michael Holton reported that he had found drug paraphernalia from a party hosted by Madison Holton.
Less than 30 minutes later, the ECSO was called back to the residence. They found Michael Holton dead from a gunshot wound to the back of his head and April Holton severely injured. She later died at a Montgomery hospital.
Michael Holton served as the mayor of Eclectic from 2012 to 2014, before stepping down, citing family issues. April Holton had filed for divorce almost a month before the deaths.
Houston said there were three theories about what actually happened, and the DA had probable cause to believe all three of them.
“From the beginning, this case has been open to interpretation to what is actually the truth. Either Jesse (Madison) Holton killed his father and mother; the father of Jesse (Madison) Holton killed (his) mother then Jesse killed his father; the father of Jesse (Madison) Holton killed Jesse’s mother and then killed himself,” Houston said.
However, Houston said there is no proof beyond a reasonable doubt to support any of them.
“Because we cannot prove whether he did it or didn’t do it beyond a reasonable doubt, we are ethically obligated, at this point, to dismiss those charges,” Houston said.
According to Houston, evidence based on DNA, bloodstain analysis and fingerprint analysis did not support the theory that Madison Holton committed murder. While Madison Holton displayed unusual behavior after his parents’ deaths, “We did have fingerprints, but they were not Jesse (Madison) Holton’s fingerprints. There was blood splatter, but none of it was on (Madison),” Houston said.
Madison Holton’s defense attorney, Tom Azar, maintains that the deaths of Madison Holton’s parents were the result of a murder-suicide for which Michael Holton bore responsibility.
“I believe that Michael Holton murdered his wife and then stuck a gun in the back of his head and shot himself,” Holton said.
Azar said April Holton had several injuries where she had been beaten and Michael Holton’s skin was recovered from under her fingernails. Michael Holton was also found with defensive wounds. “We can only surmise that they fought before he killed her,” Azar said.
Azar also said Michael Holton’s ambidexterity made it possible for him to shoot himself at an unusual angle.
Based on the position of the bullet wound in Michael Holton’s head, Houston said his death is still classified as a homicide.
If additional evidence that incriminates Madison Holton is presented in the future, Houston said the murder charges could be reinstated. Houston said the murder of Madison Holton’s parents will remain open.
Azar said they had fought to get the case resolved for nearly two years before the charges were dropped.
“It was a long time coming,” Azar said. “Today, the district attorney’s office realized that their job was to seek truth and justice, and that’s exactly what they did.”
Houston said Madison Holton pleaded guilty to a Class B felony, which is unrelated to the death of his parents. Under youthful offender status, the details surrounding the Class B felony are not available to the public.
Houston also declined to comment on Holton’s sentence for the underlying charge, but did confirm that Holton’s youthful offender status limits his maximum sentence to three years.
Despite spending more than a year in jail and being unable to graduate with his class at Elmore County High School, Azar said Madison Holton has stayed balanced and grounded throughout the court proceedings.
“He is hopefully finishing up his high school diploma over the next couple of months,” Azar said. “His intentions are to go to college and get his bachelor’s and then consider postgraduate work.”