James Mallory's co-defendant in murder of a 15-year-old is sentenced to 8 years in prison

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Anthony Hogan, the co-defendant of a Louisville man who in December pleaded guilty to fatally shooting 15-year-old Gregory Holt in his mother's apartment in 2012, was himself sentenced Monday to eight years in prison.

Hogan, who had agreed to testify against James Mallory, was convicted of criminal facilitation to murder and criminal facilitation to burglary, each carrying four years in prison.

The Mallory murder case dragged on for years, in part because Mallory’s defense team claimed Hogan was the actual killer of the teen and his attorneys had committed misconduct.

Mallory admitted he was complicit to shooting Holt, a student at Farnsley Middle School, to death in 2012 during a home invasion.

Prosecutors have said Holt’s mother, Kendra Wilson, participated in a robbery and attempted execution of Mallory hours earlier and that Mallory shot the teen while trying to retaliate against Wilson.

But in 2018, bullet casings came to light six years after the shooting.

The existence of the shells was only revealed days before Mallory’s death penalty trial was supposed to begin, when the Jefferson Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office found out an investigator and attorneys for Hogan had been in possession of the casings without disclosing them.

Holt's attorney, Angela Elleman, and an investigator dug up the shell casings buried in a tree stump outside a bar in Louisville just months after the April 11, 2012, murder. The casings were put in a safe at the public defender’s office for years until prosecutors learned of them when talking with Hogan about his agreement to testify against Mallory days before Mallory’s 2018 trial was to begin.

A grand jury declined to indict Elleman, who was accused of improperly concealing key evidence in a death penalty case.

Hogan, who was also found in possession of the murder weapon, has claimed Mallory shot Holt and hid the casings in a tree stump. Mallory’s attorneys claim Hogan was the shooter.

Testing on the casings was said to be inconclusive.

Mallory was sentenced to 14 years for first-degree manslaughter and five years for third-degree burglary.

Mallory was sentenced to a total of 19 years in prison, and will not be eligible for probation, according to the Jefferson County Commonwealth Attorney's office. He will be eligible for parole after 85% of his manslaughter sentence is served.

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