The state’s case against Jeff Holton, the 22-year-old man accused of murder Friday after allegedly shooting Misty Malone, will come before the Lawrence County Grand Jury in September.

Tuesday, August 28, 2001

The state’s case against Jeff Holton, the 22-year-old man accused of murder Friday after allegedly shooting Misty Malone, will come before the Lawrence County Grand Jury in September.

A Sept. 6 preliminary hearing was set Monday before Ironton Municipal Court Judge Clark Collins, who also appointed Huntington, W.Va., attorney Roger Smith to represent Holton.

At that hearing, it’s likely that Holton’s case will be bound over the grand jury, which will begin meeting Sept. 10, said Mack Anderson, assistant prosecutor in Lawrence County Prosecutor J.B. Collier Jr.’s office.

Holton remains in the Lawrence County Jail on a $500,000 bond, following his arraignment on a murder charge before Judge Collins on Sunday.

Holton said then that his family would retain an attorney. On Monday, Holton told the judge that he didn’t know if an attorney had been hired and said he could not afford one on his own.

After court, Smith said he not had time to talk with his client and could not comment.

A murder charge, enforceable under a separate state statute than most other crimes, carries a maximum penalty of 15 years to life in prison, Anderson said.

An enhanced charge – aggravated murder with a gun specification – can carry the death penalty.

It’s unlikely the state will seek such an aggravated murder charge against Holton, but will wait on the grand jury report, Anderson said.

"I have not seen all the information from the sheriff’s office but it’s probably not likely based on what we have now," he said.

Holton, of 2340 County Road 181 (Hog Run Road), was arrested after the Aug. 24 shooting of Malone, 20, his girlfriend, Sheriff Tim Sexton said.

The sheriff’s department responded at 5:17 a.m., and found that Malone had suffered one gunshot wound to the chest, Sexton said.

Friday evening, detectives recovered a .357-caliber handgun believed to be the one used during the shooting, which occurred outside the couple’s Hog Run Road home, Sexton said.

The investigation, by the sheriff’s department and the prosecutor’s office, is ongoing, officials said.