The trial date of an Elmore County teenager who was indicted for the 2016 slaying of his parents has been rescheduled for the third time.
The trial of Jesse Madison Holton, 19, who currently lists an address on Highway 231 in Titus is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 22 under presiding judge Sibley Reynolds. Madison Holton’s trial was initially scheduled for March, and then reset for June.
Madison Holton was initially arrested and charged with two counts of murder by the Elmore County Sheriff’s office on Sept. 12, 2016, the day after he was said to have fatally shot his parents, Jesse Michael Holton and April Owenby Holton. At the time of his arrest, Holton listed an address on Lindsey Road in Eclectic.
Michael Holton served as the mayor of Eclectic for two years, and stepped down from his position in 2014, citing family issues. At the time of the murders, April Holton had filed for divorce about a month earlier.
Madison Holton was later indicted for the murder of his father, but an Elmore County grand jury dismissed his charge for the murder of his mother in 2017.
Elmore County Sheriff Bill Franklin said the ECSO received a call from Michael Holton at about 4 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2016, telling deputies that Madison Holton had thrown a party and “trashed” their house.
Franklin said deputies arrived to find Michael Holton on the front yard and Madison Holton handcuffed on the couch inside, and discovered drug paraphernalia during a search of the house.
Franklin said deputies received a call less than 30 minutes later, after Madison Holton went to a neighbor and called police to return to the house.
When authorities arrived at the Holton residence again, both of Madison Holton’s parents had been shot in the head. Michael Holton was found dead, and April Holton later died from her injuries in a Montgomery hospital.
In earlier editions of the Herald, some of Madison Holton’s maternal relatives have maintained his innocence. April Holton’s brother and father, Michael Evans and Charles Owenby, have publicly stated that April Holton’s death was the result of a murder-suicide, in which Michael Holton shot his wife and then himself.
