The defense is looking to have one of the suspects charged in the 2022 shooting death of 19-year old Alijah Watts moved to a detention facility closer to Christian County.
Defense attorney Brandi Jones represents 16-year-old Joshua Cotton, who is currently being held in a juvenile detention facility near Louisville, thanks to redistribution of youth who are housed by the Department of Juvenile Justice. She says that distance makes it very difficult to meet with her client, and she’s requesting an order to be issued to have him relocated to Warren County.
Judge John Atkins advised for Jones and the Commonwealth to jointly contact the Department of Juvenile Justice to see if they can come to agreement before he rules on the motion.
As previously reported, Hopkinsville police allege 20-year old Christian McKeel drove 17-year old Jonathan Weston and 16-year old Joshua Cotton to Casey’s with intent to commit a robbery. A detective testified earlier this year that a struggle ensued during the attempted robbery and that’s when Watts was shot in the abdomen.
Trial is currently set to begin on September 25 in this case.