Jeremy Sutton
A detective testified Thursday that Jeremy Sutton gave several different accounts regarding the death of Douglas Holmes and finally admitted being at the murder scene.
A criminal homicide charge was bound to the Grand Jury against Sutton by General Sessions Court Judge Lila Statom.
Sutton, 20, allegedly murdered Holmes in the victim’s house after an argument over money owed by Sutton in June.
Detective Joseph Neighbors said a deceased Holmes was found with around 10 .40 caliber bullets embedded in his corpse and surrounded by bullet casings.
After Sutton was taken into custody, he spent three to four hours talking with the investigator, and changed his story several times. The first story had Sutton nowhere near the area, and the next iteration saw Sutton in the area. In this version of the story, Sutton heard gunshots and ran away afterward.
However, Sutton’s final story was much different and completely contradicted the first two stories, the witness said. The defendant said he went over to Holmes’ residence and was let into the house. According to Sutton’s interview, Holmes pointed a gun at the back of Sutton’s head and demanded that Sutton perform sexual acts on the now-deceased.
According to Sutton, the defendant shot Holmes in the right arm, and avoided shots from Holmes’ gun. Sutton then popped seven or eight more bullets into his body afterward. However, evidence found at the scene did not support this story, the detective said.
The investigator said no wounds were found on Holmes’ arm, and no bullets from the victim’s gun was found at the scene. Not only that, but Holmes’ gun was found to be with the safety still activated, meaning it would have been impossible for Holmes to fire shots.
Because Sutton was already on probation after his involvement in a carjacking, he was wearing a GPS-monitoring ankle bracelet. The GPS confirmed Sutton was at Holmes’ residence when the incident occurred, and police later found a .40 caliber gun in Sutton’s house too.
Judge Statom kept Sutton on the same bond.