COVINGTON, Ky. — One of two people charged with the shooting death of 60-year-old Virgil Stewart as he walked home along the 15th Street Bridge in 2022 has pleaded guilty.
Zachary Holden entered a guilty plea to charges of first-degree robbery and murder on May 15, according to the Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.
Kenton County Prosecutor Rob Sanders recommended Holden's sentence be life in prison, though the 20-year-old won't be officially sentenced until July 17.
Holden was already being held in the Boone County Jail on an unrelated robbery charge when Covington police obtained a warrant for his arrest for the murder of Stewart.
According to prosecutors, Stewart was an innocent victim walking home in Covington when Holden and another suspect, Latoya Dale, shot him while attempting to rob him. Dale also faces a first-degree robbery charge and one charge of murder.
"The victim was in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Sanders in September 2022. "Witnesses described seeing two people standing over him ... demanding that he give it up, give the money, or something of that effect. He unfortunately died of his injuries."
At the time, Sanders said Dale told investigators Holden was the one who fired the shots that killed Stewart; the pair were able to steal $6 total from Stewart.
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