The Knox woman accused of shooting her boyfriend has written a notice to the Starke Circuit Court indicating she cannot afford an attorney.
During her initial hearing Friday, Feb. 15, Kathleen Holt told Judge Kim Hall that she would be obtaining her own attorney, but has since found she hasn’t the resources available to secure counsel.
Judge Hall has granted her request for court-appointed counsel and Richard Ballard and Timothy Lemon have been assigned to her case. A mental health evaluation and an addictions assessment has been ordered through Porter-Starke Services.
Holt has been charged with Murder in the shooting death of her boyfriend, Ron Worker. On Feb. 13, she called the Starke County Dispatch Center and allegedly said she shot her boyfriend at their home at 1740 South 550 East in Knox. Worker was alive with a single gunshot wound in the chest when emergency personnel arrived at the scene, but he later died while being treated at IU Health Starke Hospital. Starke County Coroner Kris Rannells and Pathologist Dr. Pramod Carpenter determined the preliminary cause of death to be exsanguination, or blood loss.
Worker had been shot while laying in a bed in the house. Holt had reportedly been drinking prior to the incident and allegedly admitted to police that she didn’t like the music playing on the radio and fired two shots at it. She also fired a round in the ceiling and one into Worker which struck him the chest.
She was taken to the Starke County Jail where she remains without bond. Her trial has been set for May 22.
