INDIANAPOLIS — “This is a betrayal.”
Barbara and Steve Chase had a hard time understanding the plea deal for the man prepared to plead guilty to the murder of their daughter in July 2021.
“Is it gonna help with closure? I can close some things but not this,” said Barbara Chase.
The plea agreement was filed on May 31st and settles two criminal cases against Marcus Garvin. In exchange for pleading guilty to murder in the killing of the Chase’s daughter, Christie Holt, Garvin would receive a 45-year prison sentence. The agreement also dismisses all charges in connection to a separate stabbing seven months before Holt was killed.
The Chases insist they were never told the details of the plea agreement. They only learned them when FOX59/CBS4 handed them a copy of the deal.
At age 33, it is possible Garvin could complete his 45-year sentence and be released.
“He should never even have a chance to get out and do this again,” lamented Steve Chase.
The brutality of Holt’s killing is apparent in the probable cause affidavit submitted to the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office to justify the murder charge against Garvin.
The document references Holt’s found 51 stab wounds, (to Holt’s) head, neck, upper torso, and thighs. Defensive wounds were on both her hands. Holt’s lower left leg was “almost cut off”.
The motive for the killing appears to be Garvin’s discovering that Holt was seeing another man. Police said Garvin expressed regret but added, “She deserved it.”
What the Chases keep coming back to is a single question. Why was Garvin on the street at the time of their daughter’s murder?
Seven months earlier in December 2020, Garvin was arrested in another stabbing. While working at a Circle K on North Shadeland, Garvin got into an argument with a customer who suggested the matter be settled after Garvin’s shift.
The customer exited the store and a witness says she saw Garvin running up behind the customer and stabbing him with a knife.
Security cameras show Garvin returning to the cash register, tossing a knife on the counter and saying, “Damn, that was satisfying.”
Garvin was arrested and at arraignment, his initial bond was set at $30,000. Judge Shatrese Flowers lowered it to $1,500 and electronic monitoring over the objection of the prosecutor. Paying the bond for Garvin was The Bail Project.
To the Chases, their ordeal is multilayered injustices resulting in the loss of their daughter.
They plan to be in the courtroom Friday morning at Garvin’s sentencing hearing. State law requires victims and victim’s families to have the opportunity to address the court. Barbara Chase said she’s ready to take the stand and speak on behalf of her daughter.
