Ashland boy charged with murder in Juvenile Court

Mail Tribune (Medford, OR — Wayback)

2018-07-04

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The 12-year-old boy who allegedly killed his mother and wounded his 16-year-old sister with a kitchen knife in Ashland Tuesday has been identified as Ezekiel "Zeke" Holmes. Jackson County Juvenile Services has never had previous contact with Holmes, according to Juvenile Services Deputy Director Joe Ferguson, who confirmed Holmes' name.  Holmes will face charges related to the stabbing attack as a juvenile. He entered initial not-guilty pleas in Jackson County Juvenile Court Wednesday morning on charges of murder, attempted murder and first-degree assault. Circuit Court Judge Lisa Greif appointed the youth a court-appointed attorney, according to Deputy District Attorney Ruby Herriott. Oregon's Measure 11 statute allows children younger than 15 charged with serious crimes, such as murder, to be tried in adult court if decided in a juvenile court hearing, but Herriott couldn't say whether the investigation is moving prosecutors in that direction. Herriott said the investigation is ongoing, but if the youth is tried only in Juvenile Court, he would be released from the system by age 25. "One of the goals of the juvenile court is to rehabilitate the youth and hold them accountable," Herriott said. Holmes' father, Jim Holmes, said he was away from home traveling at the time of the attack, according to a Tuesday night public post on Facebook, an account confirmed Wednesday by Ashland police Chief Tighe O'Meara.  The uninjured family member inside the home at the time of the attack was Pamela Wolosz' mother, Joanne, who also lived with the family. Property records show that Joanne Wolosz is listed with James Haswell Holmes and Pamela J. Wolosz on the deed for 922 Morton St., where the attack occurred just after 8 a.m. Tuesday. Jim Holmes identified the juvenile stabbing victim as Lydia Holmes, shown on Facebook to be an Ashland High School student. In the post he said her condition is "stable and safe." He said the family has been aided by close family nearby while he's away. In the post, Jim Holmes described his wife as a "wonderful, hard-nosed, uncompromising, amazingly smart engineer who was a loving mother and wife with a bottomless heart for her family and pets." He said the family is "numb and in shock" in the wake of the attack, and his family is just beginning to figure out how they'll move forward. "Keep us in your prayers," Holmes wrote. "All of us, especially my son." — Reach reporter Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MTCrimeBeat.