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Holly Harvey (L) glances at her friend Sandra Ketchum, 16, before testimony begins Tuesday in a hearing to determine if probable cause exists to present the case to a grand jury. Photo/John Munford.

Holly: ‘I just killed my grandparents’

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@thecitizennews.com

After hearing nearly an hour of gripping testimony from Lt. Col. Bruce Jordan, Fayette Magistrate Judge Charles Floyd sent the murder charges against teenage lovers Holly Harvey and Sandy Ketchum to the Fayette County grand jury.

The grand jury meets Sept. 13 and will determine if there is enough evidence to indict the two teenagers in the bloody knife slayings of Carl and Sarah Collier Aug. 2.

Jordan, the chief detective at the sheriff’s department, provided the only testimony in Tuesday’s preliminary hearing. He told the audience filled with relatives of Ketchum and the Colliers’ son, Kevin, about how he first heard about the crime.

At 7:37 p.m. on Aug. 2, Jordan said the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department received a call from Spalding County. A friend of Harvey’s, Sarah Pope, had just been visited by the girls who were on their way to the beach. The girls’ clothes were covered in blood, Pope told officials, and they originally said they were mugged.

Then Harvey made a chilling confession, Jordan said.

“She held up a knife and told Pope, ‘I just killed my grandparents,’” Jordan said.

Initially, Spalding County officials thought the crime had been committed in Riverdale. But after determining the Colliers’ address at 226 Plantation Drive was in Fayette County, two Fayette County deputies were dispatched to the scene.

When the deputies arrived, they discovered the blood-covered bodies of the Colliers.

“You could see Mr. Collier face up in the kitchen,” Jordan said.

Later, deputies discovered Sarah Collier in the basement with several stab wounds near her heart. Officials said Sarah Collier had 22 stab wounds, while Carl had between 12 and 15 wounds.

Jordan said police were able to track the girls to Tybee Island, where the arrests were made. It was in the small offices of the Tybee Island Police Department that Ketchum confessed the crimes to Jordan, the detective said.

“She said she had been forbidden to see Holly, but snuck into Holly’s room Sunday night (Aug. 1),” Jordan said.

According to Jordan, Ketchum said the girls had been smoking marijuana laced with cocaine and Harvey started talking about killing her grandparents.

Later that day, while Ketchum hid on the side of the bed, the Colliers came into Harvey’s bedroom to chastise her over her drug use.

“Sandy said the Colliers told Holly she was going to wind up just like her mother,” Jordan said.

Harvey’s mother is currently in prison for a drug trafficking conviction.

When Carl Collier went to a nearby closet to look for a piece of luggage for an upcoming trip, the bloodbath began, Ketchum told Jordan.

Harvey jumped her grandfather and started stabbing him, Jordan said. The Colliers were able to overpower Harvey and she started screaming for Ketchum’s help, Jordan said.

Ketchum came out from the side of the bed and started stabbing the Colliers. Carl made it up the stairs to the main floor of the house, but Harvey followed him.

Jordan said Ketchum then made a chilling confession.

“She said, ‘I finished with Mrs. Collier and went to join Holly,’” Jordan said.

The interview was not recorded, Jordan said, because the Tybee police department didn’t have such equipment and Jordan didn’t have any with him at the time of the interview.

During cross-examination, Ketchum’s attorney, Lloyd Walker, asked Jordan if he had tried to contact the girls’ parents since they were juveniles. Jordan said they had and also that his one talk with Ketchum at the Tybee Island police department was the only conversation he had with her. He added that she did talk a little bit to one of the female officers who helped transport her back to Fayette County.

“She told her that she couldn’t get rid of the smell of blood and that those people didn’t deserve to die,” Jordan said.

Jordan also said that Harvey did not wish to talk to the police and after asking once he did not ask her again. With Sandy, however, it was very apparent that she wanted to talk with detectives, Jordan noted.

The girls, who were found in Tybee Island at the home of two boys they befriended on the beach, still had the knives and Mr. Collier’s truck in their possession, Jordan said. Harvey and Ketchum both asked the boys to pawn the jewelry and help them secure another vehicle, as they admitted the truck had been stolen, Jordan added.

In addition to the murder charges, Harvey and Ketchum also face armed robbery charges for taking the Colliers’ cellphone, Jordan said.

Although detectives have released a significant amount of detail about the case, Sheriff Randall Johnson said detectives have gone by “normal procedure” in the case.

There were few details from Tuesday morning’s hearing that hadn’t been released previously by the sheriff’s department.