Bell denied youthful offender status

Published 9:04 am Friday, October 8, 2010

A second defendant has been denied youthful offender status stemming from a February robbery, which left an accomplice dead.

Nicholas Bell, 20, was denied youthful offender status during a hearing Sept. 27, following the denial of co-defendant Mark Lyle Massey, 20. Richard Allen Hollaway, 18, is scheduled for a youthful offender hearing on Nov. 9.

The fourth defendant, Duel Wayne Pope, 21, did not fit in the eligible age range for youthful offender status.

Bell, Pope and Massey have all entered not guilty pleas.  

The men are charged with the murder of 18-year-old Robert Joseph Denton, of Moody, who was shot by the homeowner during the course of an attempted robbery. Bell, Hollaway, Pope and Massey were charged with Denton’s murder because his death occurred during the course of a burglary in which all give men were allegedly involved.

Four of the men entered the mobile home while one