Christian Circuit Judge John Atkins declined to modify bond Wednesday morning for the man charged with complicity to murder in connection with the March 2 killing of 19-year old Alijah Watts at Casey’s General Store on Fort Campbell Boulevard.
Defense attorney Jarrod Jackson told Judge Atkins that 20-year old Christian McKeel of Hopkinsville has godparents in Memphis he could live with and that he’d get a job while awaiting trial, if the judge would reduce his bond to something manageable.
Judge Atkins reminded that McKeel could be eligible for the death penalty if the Commonwealth were to pursue that as an option and said the alleged crime is far too serious to let him live out of state or to modify bond.
McKeel allegedly drove 17-year old Jonathan Weston and 16-year old Joshua Cotton to Casey’s with intent to commit a robbery. A detective testified last month that a struggle ensued during the attempted robbery and that’s when Watts was shot in the abdomen.
Watts drove away, but soon crashed his vehicle near the intersection of East 21st and South Virginia Street. He was later pronounced deceased at Tennova Health Hospital in Clarksville.
Weston and Cotton are indicted with murder and are in a juvenile detention center.