![]() ![]() At that funeral, Willis recalled, a ten year old Holland walked over to his friend and held her so that she could cry on his shoulders. Up till this day, in the midst of his own criminal proceedings, she believes that he has yet to find a time to grieve for his best friend.Īt Holland’s best friend’s funeral, Willis couldn’t help but think back to another funeral she attended with her son over six years ago, when the grandmother of Holland’s friend had passed away. While the public spotlight is focused on Holland’s upcoming hearing, Willis lingered on the funeral of her son’s best friend. The two had played together in their church band, Holland on percussion and his friend on piano. His best friend had battled leukemia but recently passed away, Holland’s mother explained. The morning of Hill’s assault, Holland attended a funeral in his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut. So they wait - more than a year and counting - behind bars in pretrial detention. Holland and the others have yet to be convicted, but with bail set at a quarter million, none of them can afford to go home. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” “I know my child, and I know that in this situation he didn’t do what he’s being accused of. “I’m not going to accept that my son is guilty, because I know that he’s not,” Willis said. ![]() LaToya Willis, Holland’s mother, said she does not believe he assaulted Hill. I was also unable to access Holland’s arrest records at the courthouse because of his juvenile status. Hill declined to comment due to the sensitivity of the case and the approaching trial. Not only would his case stay private, but at 21 the crime would also be stricken from his record, protecting him from the job discrimination that many felons face. But his family remains hopeful that he might be tried as a youthful offender so that even if convicted, Holland would have a second chance: He would not be legally considered a criminal, and the maximum sentence he could accrue would only be four years. Now, he faces up to 61 years in prison, as well as the possibility of being tried in court as an adult. A young black man, Holland’s mother described him as a “gentle giant,” and friends and family mentioned his diverse interests in computer game design, music and football. He had never been suspended from school or arrested by the police before. Having just turned 17, Aymir Holland is the youngest of the accused group. The identical felony charges reflect no distinction of the relative levels of culpability among the three defendants, or any special treatment for Holland’s juvenile status. Each of the three suspects are being charged with five felonies: first degree assault, assault of an elderly victim, first degree robbery, first degree conspiracy to commit assault and first degree conspiracy to commit robbery. ![]() The last two of their group remain at large. Aymir Holland and Kelton Gilbert, who were 16 and 18 at the time of the assault, are detained at Manson Youth Institution for offenders up to age 21 Lawrence Minor, who was 20 during the incident, is detained at an adult institution. Hill has since recovered, and over a year later, three of his five alleged assailants sit in prison. ![]()
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