After being delayed for some time, Joshua Cotton was formally sentenced in Christian Circuit Court Wednesday for the 2022 murder of Alijah Watts.
But before he was sentenced to 45-years in prison, Cotton and defense attorney Brandi Jones made a push for a new trial, with Jones highlighting what she calls discrepancies and inappropriate language used to the jury that resulted in a guilty verdict. Cotton himself says he was painted in an unfair light and didn’t have a fair chance with the jury.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Maureen Leamy argued that those concerns could be brought up during the appeal process—which Cotton has the right to—and Judge John Atkins agreed, denying the motion for a new trial.
Jones informed the court that she intends to file the appeal paperwork promptly.
Leamy moved to have two other charges—first-degree robbery and theft by unlawful taking of a firearm—which were on the same indictment as the murder charge but were in reference to separate incidents. She says they’ve been unsuccessful in speaking with the victim of the robbery charge, and for the theft by unlawful taking charges, that victim is no longer interested in pursuing charges against Cotton.
Ultimately, Judge Atkins sentenced Cotton to the recommended 45-year sentence for his first-degree murder charge—which he was found guilty of by a jury in September.
The courtroom briefly erupted into chaos as family members reacted to the sentencing, before the court was brought back into order by other family members and bailiffs.
Cotton’s co-defendants in this case, Jonathan Weston and Christian McKeel, had previously pled guilty to their roles in the incident. Weston entered a guilty plea to facilitation to first-degree assault and first-degree wanton endangerment, which comes with sentence of eight years and six months, while McKeel entered a guilty plea to facilitation to murder and second-degree robbery. That comes with a recommended sentence of 11 years.