March 29, 2008
Cherlythia 'Bunny' Holmes Sentenced to Life
Guilty of Ordering Murder of Wendy Morgan in 2004; Jury Recommends Mercy; 'Not a Monster'
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – After four days of testimony and two hours of deliberation, a jury of nine women and three men Friday found 26 year-old Cherlythia Glenchelle "Bunny" Holmes guilty of ordering the murder in the summer of 2004 of Wendy Morgan, a former Marshall honor student turned prostitute and drug addict.
Holmes received life in prison with a chance for parole in 15 years, on the charge of accessory before the fact to murder. The jury recommended mercy even before the sentencing phase, which many found unusual, but prosecutor Chris Chiles attributed that outcome to the fact that the two men convicted in the shooting, Cedeal “GiGi” Harper and Rafelle “RoRo” Harris, could be eligible for parole themselves. Without the mercy recommendation, Holmes faced life in prison without the possibility of parole.
She is currently serving an eight-year, one-month prison sentence for federal drug and firearm violations. She was sentenced on those charges in February 2006. She will begin serving the sentence she received Friday when she completes the drug and firearm convictions.
Holmes continued to profess innocence and said that she was not a “monster” who ordered a hit on Morgan for stealing money and drugs from a Holmes-run crack house.
Morgan’s body was found dead of gunshots in the 500 block of 5th Street by a passerby July 28, 2004.
Parents and friends of at least two of the teens murdered on Charleston Ave. May 22, 2005, attended the trial along with Marsha Morgan, Wendy’s mother.
Following the conviction, flowers were laid by Sabrina Poston and Mary Lyons in the 500 block of Fifth Street where the 31-year-old young woman died.
Poston is the mother of Megan Poston, who died that prom night, along with Donte Ward, Eddrick Clark, and Michael Dillon. Lyons has offered a reward along with Tina Ward, Donte’s mother and other family members for the arrest and conviction of the killers.
Holmes has long been considered by police and prosecutors a "person of interest" in the slaying of those teenagers in 2005.
When Larry Clark, one of the witnesses to Bunny Holmes complicity in Friday's case testified, “I have no doubt in my mind that she ordered four other kids’ deaths in this town,” Holmes’ defense attorney Mark Hobbs asked for a mistrial, but Judge Alfred Ferguson instructed the jury to disregard Clark’s remark and ordered it stricken from the record. Hobbs vows to appeal his client’s life with mercy conviction focusing on the witness’ remarks likely alleging that mentioning the infamous unsolved quadruple murder prejudiced the jury.
Holmes had been questioned following the quadruple killing, but not charged. Investigators have suspected her involvement due to the similarities to the Morgan murder.
While Prosecutor Chris Chiles remarked that the jury showed more mercy than Holmes did towards Morgan, Hobbs speculated about what the verdict might have been without the allusion to the quadruple murder.
Judge Ferguson directed that the accessory-before-the-fact, life with parole sentence handed down Friday will run consecutive with the federal firearms and drug convictions, meaning she will begin serving it after she completes her federal sentence.
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Cherlythia 'Bunny' Holmes Sentenced to Life
Guilty of Ordering Murder of Wendy Morgan in 2004; Jury Recommends Mercy; 'Not a Monster'
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – After four days of testimony and two hours of deliberation, a jury of nine women and three men Friday found 26 year-old Cherlythia Glenchelle "Bunny" Holmes guilty of ordering the murder in the summer of 2004 of Wendy Morgan, a former Marshall honor student turned prostitute and drug addict.
Holmes received life in prison with a chance for parole in 15 years, on the charge of accessory before the fact to murder. The jury recommended mercy even before the sentencing phase, which many found unusual, but prosecutor Chris Chiles attributed that outcome to the fact that the two men convicted in the shooting, Cedeal “GiGi” Harper and Rafelle “RoRo” Harris, could be eligible for parole themselves. Without the mercy recommendation, Holmes faced life in prison without the possibility of parole.
She is currently serving an eight-year, one-month prison sentence for federal drug and firearm violations. She was sentenced on those charges in February 2006. She will begin serving the sentence she received Friday when she completes the drug and firearm convictions.
Holmes continued to profess innocence and said that she was not a “monster” who ordered a hit on Morgan for stealing money and drugs from a Holmes-run crack house.
Morgan’s body was found dead of gunshots in the 500 block of 5th Street by a passerby July 28, 2004.
Parents and friends of at least two of the teens murdered on Charleston Ave. May 22, 2005, attended the trial along with Marsha Morgan, Wendy’s mother.
Following the conviction, flowers were laid by Sabrina Poston and Mary Lyons in the 500 block of Fifth Street where the 31-year-old young woman died.
Poston is the mother of Megan Poston, who died that prom night, along with Donte Ward, Eddrick Clark, and Michael Dillon. Lyons has offered a reward along with Tina Ward, Donte’s mother and other family members for the arrest and conviction of the killers.
Holmes has long been considered by police and prosecutors a "person of interest" in the slaying of those teenagers in 2005.
When Larry Clark, one of the witnesses to Bunny Holmes complicity in Friday's case testified, “I have no doubt in my mind that she ordered four other kids’ deaths in this town,” Holmes’ defense attorney Mark Hobbs asked for a mistrial, but Judge Alfred Ferguson instructed the jury to disregard Clark’s remark and ordered it stricken from the record. Hobbs vows to appeal his client’s life with mercy conviction focusing on the witness’ remarks likely alleging that mentioning the infamous unsolved quadruple murder prejudiced the jury.
Holmes had been questioned following the quadruple killing, but not charged. Investigators have suspected her involvement due to the similarities to the Morgan murder.
While Prosecutor Chris Chiles remarked that the jury showed more mercy than Holmes did towards Morgan, Hobbs speculated about what the verdict might have been without the allusion to the quadruple murder.
Judge Ferguson directed that the accessory-before-the-fact, life with parole sentence handed down Friday will run consecutive with the federal firearms and drug convictions, meaning she will begin serving it after she completes her federal sentence.
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