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Teen double murder suspects denied bond

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

As murder suspect Holley Harvey wept and kept her head on the desk, Superior Court Judge Pascal English denied bond to Harvey and her alleged accomplice in crime,Sandy Ketchum.

With a packed courtroom of curious family and residents looking on and four cameras filming every word, English said the teenage girls posed a flight risk.

Harvey,15, and Ketchum, 16, are being held in the brutal slayings of Sarah and Carl Collier in their north Fayette home Aug 2. A charge of armed robbery was also added to both girls’ rap sheet during Thursday’s bond hearing.

As the teenage girls were led into the courtroom, members of the Ketchum family and Collier family sat on opposite sides of the courtroom and watched as two of Fayette’s youngest killers were led to the defense table.

Harvey showed no emotion as she entered, while Ketchum appeared red-eyed as she looked at her family seated less than 10 feet from her.

Ketchum’s attorney, Lloyd Walker, called two witnesses to the stand; Sandy’s father, Timothy, and her step-mother, Elizabeth.

Timothy, who appeared drained from the emotional strain of the last two weeks, told the audience about Sandy’s youth.

“She’s lived with me since she was 15 months old. Her mother didn’t want to have anything to do with her,” he said.

Sandy then next encountered a series of step-mothers. The first stepmom was good to Sandy, but had aneurysms on the brain and “kind of vegetabilized before she died.”

Ketchum said the second stepmom was physically abusive to Sandy and characterized the relationship as “bad.”

“She always tried to get Sandy in trouble,” he said.

For the last four years, Timothy has been married to Elizabeth, who he said had a good relationship with Sandy.

But a less than perfect family life was not Sandy’s only problem. Her father said that Sandy had failed drug tests on probation in Coweta County.

“She was on probation for running away, failing the drug test and obstruction,” he recounted.

But earlier this summer, Sandy decided she wanted to try and establish a life with her birth mother, Sandra Maddox, in Griffin. Ketchum talked it over with Sandy’s probation officer and they agreed to give it a shot, but with one caveat. There would be no contact between Sandy and Holly.

But Maddox did not listen to the warnings, and let Sandy and Harvey hang out together.

The next witness called was Sandy’s latest stepmother, Elizabeth Ketchum. Elizabeth said Sandy was placed on one-day community service for her drug test violation, but said she had no major problems with her stepdaughter.

“Sandy and I have always gotten along,” she said.

In cross-examination, chief assistant district attorney Dan Hiatt asked Sandy’s father about her temper and he admitted that she hid a lot of knives in her room when she got upset.

During the testimony, Harvey rested her head on the defense table, while Ketchum occasionally dabbed at her eyes with a tissue,

Fayette Sheriff’s Department Lt. Colonel Bruce Jordan told the audience how Harvey tried to escape shortly after she was arrested.

“She tried to slip out of her handcuffs, but I put a knee to her back,” he said.

Jordan said that Carl Collier was found face down in the kitchen with at least 15 stab wounds, while Sarah Collier was found in the basement with more than 20 slashes.

When Harvey and Ketchum were arrested, Jordan said they found the three knives that were missing from the Colliers’ kitchen.

Defense attorney Lloyd Walker pleaded with the court to realize his client was a juvenile and the circumstances of her life.

“A lot of people have failed her. We can’t forget that they are children,” he said.

In denying bond, English made clear his intentions about the case.

“This is not going to sit around. This is going to be tried.”

English closed the proceedings and Harvey and Collier were led back to their cells.

As Ketchum was led out a family member yelled out, “We love you Sandy.” As Timothy Ketchum walked out of the courtroom, he caught the eye of the Colliers son, Kevin. The two men embraced and left the court. Outside, the media swirled around the Ketchum family and chased them into the parking lot with their television cameras. But the Ketchums locked arms and refused to talk as they left the grounds.