Christopher Endicott, sentenced to 20 years in prison for the March 21, 2011 deaths of his guardians, Gary and Barbara Holloway, appeared before Circuit Court Judge Phil Patton on January 28 petitioning the court for shock probation.

Having reached his 18th birthday on January 26, Endicott is no longer eligible to remain at the Adair County Juvenile Correctional Center where he has spent nearly three years. His Public Advocates, attorney’s Suzanne Hopf and Charles Bates were seeking to avoid Endicott’s transfer to adult prison.

Attorney Hopf gave an impassioned plea on behalf of her client, reminding the court of Endicott’s troubled family history. She said that during his time in detention, Chris had earned his GED and several other certifications including OSHA and Microsoft. “He has developed resources that he didn’t have three years ago,” she told the court.

For her first witness, Hopf brought in Private Detective Rebecca Barnett of the Tennessee Detective Agency Inquisitor, Inc.

Barnett described a family background of drugs, alcohol, and domestic violence. Endicott was deserted by his mother, Trina Vaughn, at a young age to be raised by his father until David Endicott went to prison when Chris was 12. Shortly thereafter he was moved to his mother’s side of the family and finally to his aunt and uncle, the Holloways.

After Barnett’s detailed testimony, Commonwealth Attorney John Gardner had no questions, noting that the court was familiar with the family history.

Attorney Hopf called her next witness, Todd Davenport, who is the latest counselor to work with Endicott at the Adair County facility.

The only witness the Commonwealth called was KSP Detective B.J. Burton, the lead investigator in the case.

Gardner asked Burton about finding Gary and Barbara Holloway after their son discovered the bodies. He described their wounds and how the location of the shell casings showed that Endicott had fired a 30-30 level action shotgun from the doorway of the Holloway’s bedroom and that after apprehending the suspect later that day Endicott had eventually admitted his guilt.

In her final plea Hopf begged the court to consider granting either shock probation or returning him to the juvenile facility for several more months. She explained concern that Endicott will lose ground in an adult facility.

After all testimony was heard, the Commonwealth Attorney remained unmoved. “The law does not recognize the difference between youth and adult offenders,” he stated. “The Commonwealth gave Chris Endicott the lowest possible sentence for this crime,” Gardner said. He said that due to the nature of the crime he could not recommend probation.

In rendering his decision, Judge Patton agreed, saying that “probation would diminish the seriousness of the crime.” He added that Endicott will be a young man when he gets out and urged him to take advantage of every opportunity offered in prison for continued growth.