James Gentry, the man accused in the 2018 shooting death of Keith Hayes in Trigg County, had a request for bond reduction denied in Trigg Circuit Court Wednesday afternoon.
Gentry appeared with defense attorney Michael Thompson, who requested Gentry be released from jail to serve home incarceration on an ankle monitor, because of the delay in proceedings due to waiting on DNA evidence testing to come back from the state crime lab.
Thompson says Gentry’s family might be able to put some money towards bond, but Gentry has been waiting in jail for a significant amount of time now and a presumption of innocence would make the release appropriate.
Circuit Judge C.A. Woody Woodall agreed that proceedings have been lengthy, but due to the nature of Gentry’s charges, he denied the request.
Another pretrial conference was set for May 13, and an update from the state crime lab states they hope to have the evidence testing completely by summer. Trial is currently set for August in this case.
Gentry is charged with murder, first-degree robbery and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon. As previously reported, Gentry allegedly admitted to Kentucky State Police that he was present when Hayes was shot multiple times on November 27. He also reportedly admitted to transporting Hayes to the location on Buffalo Road in Trigg County where he was killed and later located.