BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark — Testimony ended Friday, Nov. 17, for convicted killer Zachary Holly's bid to overturn his death sentence in connection to the murder, kidnapping, and rape of 6-year-old Jersey Bridgeman in 2015.
Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Robinson Jr. told 5NEWS that the court will hear closing arguments on April 26, 2024. The court may release its ruling on the same day, but Robinson said there is a possibility that it could be released after April 26.
Holly attempted to overturn the sentencing because his attorneys were ineffective during his trial in 2015.
On Wednesday, May 20, 2015, the jury found Holly guilty and sentenced him to death after Bridgeman's body was found in a vacant house.
Holly lived next door to Jersey in a trailer on SE A Street in Bentonville, and police found Jersey's body minutes after her mother reported her missing on Nov. 20, 2012. According to court records, Holly and his wife babysat the child while her parents worked the night she died.
The prosecution argued that Holly kidnapped Jersey sometime after midnight, raped her, and strangled her to death. Holly was sentenced to the death penalty after he was found guilty during his 2015 trial in Benton County.
During a hearing held in Benton County Circuit Court on Oct. 30, 2023, the prosecution stated that a state doctor testified that he was fit to stand trial, and criminally responsible for his conduct.
They claimed his trial lawyers should have gone deeper into the evidence surrounding Holly's childhood and how it affected his mental illness long-term. They said his trial lawyers erroneously did not provide an expert on the stand to testify about Holly's mother's alleged drug and alcohol use during her pregnancy with Holly, and how that impacted him.
Robinson said if Holly were to get a new trial, prosecutors would still try to seek the death penalty.
"The end goal of my office is for the 2015 verdict of the jury, stating guilt and a sentence of death, to be upheld," Robinson said.
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