Man gets 50 years for role in murder

JACKSON COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – A 42-year-old Jackson County man is sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in a December 2017 double homicide.

In February, a Jackson County Circuit Court jury found Bobby Hammonds guilty of two counts of complicity to commit murder following a four-day trial that included 21 witnesses. The jury recommended 50 years.

This week, Judge Oscar Gayle House carried out that recommendation, sentencing him on the murder conspiracy counts and an evidence tampering conviction with all the sentences running concurrently and adding up to 50 years, according to court records.

He was convicted in the deaths of Whitney Sparks Venable, 28, and Joey Ray Marcum, 35, who were found dead Dec. 28, 2017 in a burned car on Rock Lick Road in Jackson County.

Bobby Hammonds and his brother, 43-year-old Terry Lee Hammonds, originally were charged with murder and other offenses related to the deaths, on which the victims were shot with a 30-30 rifle.