Macon man accused in January killing, robbery denied bond reduction

About 10 minutes after a Macon man was robbed and fatally shot in front of two young boys on Jan. 7, two men dressed in dark clothing frantically banged on the door of a house nearby.

The men’s clothing matched a description given by a 13-year-old boy who was grabbed by gunmen as he walked out of his McCall Road house in east Macon to catch a ride on a school bus just before 7 a.m., prosecutor Larissa Olliverre said during a Thursday court hearing.

Sherod Holston, a 24-year-old Macon man charged with murder in the killing of 42-year-old Ulysses Pitts, appeared Thursday in Bibb County Superior Court asking for his bond to be reduced below the $75,000 set previously.

A judge denied his request.

Olliverre said three black, masked men broke into Pitts’ house -- located off Jeffersonville Road -- and grabbed the 13-year-old, holding him at gunpoint.

A 10-year-old boy was awakened from where he was sleeping in the living room and also was held at gunpoint, Olliverre said.

The gunmen then demanded money from Pitts, whom they found in a bedroom. After taking cash from a shoebox stored in a hall closet, the men beat Pitts on the head with a gun and shot him in the neck, torso, chest and leg, she said.

The boys ran to a neighbor’s house for help after the gunmen left. Pitts died upon arrival at a local hospital, Olliverre said.

John Carter, Holston’s lawyer, argued that Holston has been jailed since Jan. 10 without an indictment.

“Mr. Holston does not know anything about these charges,” he said, adding that Holston maintains he wasn’t at Pitts’ house at the time of the shooting.

He doesn’t have a prior felony record, Carter said.

A second man charged in the case -- Antwan Denard Johnson, 26 -- also is being held at the county jail on $75,000 bond.

Olliverre said two women who live about a five-minute walk away from Pitts’ home have told authorities that Holston and Johnson arrived at their home about 7:10 a.m.

The women told the men to leave because they were acting “agitated” and “suspicious,” she said.

They said Johnson was carrying a balled-up black jacket in a manner that looked like something was hidden inside it, Olliverre said.

Holston’s brother has told police that both Holston and Johnson confessed their involvement in the robbery and Pitts’ killing to him, she said.

Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.

This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 9:31 PM with the headline "Macon man accused in January killing, robbery denied bond reduction ."