Charleroi mother pleads no contest to third-degree murder for baby entombed in wall
Faces 18 to 36 years in prison and agrees to testify against child’s father
The mother facing capital murder charges after her infant son’s body was found entombed in the walls of her Charleroi apartment in 2021 pleaded no contest to a lesser homicide charge Tuesday in a deal with prosecutors requiring her to testify against the father at trial.
Kylie Lynn Wilt, 28, agreed to the no contest plea to felony charges of third-degree murder and child endangerment in order to avoid the death penalty, although she will likely face 18 to 36 years in prison when she’s sentenced.
“Do you understand what you’re charged with, and what you’re pleading to?” Judge John DiSalle asked Wilt as she sat shackled and in an orange jumpsuit inside his courtroom at the Washington County Courthouse.
“Yes,” Wilt responded.
“And this is rising out of the discovery of your child’s remains inside the wall of your apartment?” DiSalle asked, pausing while waiting for Wilt to respond. “You have to audibly answer.”
“Yes,” Wilt said while nodding her head in the affirmative.
The body of Archer Hollis was discovered by Charleroi Regional police Nov. 4, 2021, during a welfare check to the Lookout Avenue apartment Wilt shared with the baby’s father, Alan Wayne Hollis. The couple originally claimed the boy died of sudden infant death syndrome in February 2021 at their previous Charleroi apartment on Upper Crest Avenue, and the child was last seen by a pediatrician in September 2020. The couple also discussed the child through text messages sent in November 2020, according to court documents.
It’s unclear when or how the child died, but the couple placed the baby’s body in a plastic crate and stored it in the laundry room at the Upper Crest Avenue apartment before relocating the body when they moved to the Lookout Avenue residence, police said previously. The boy was still wrapped in blankets in the plastic crate and then placed in a cubbyhole in the wall with drywall installed to conceal it, according to court documents. Concerns about Archer’s whereabouts led the county’s Children and Youth Services to perform a wellness check before contacting police when he was missing.
Both Wilt and Hollis were charged with homicide in December 2021 about a month after the couple directed Charleroi Regional police to where they had hidden the body. An autopsy indicated the boy suffered multiple rib fractures that were in various stages of healing while he was alive, and also suffered a broken rib near his sternum around the time of his death, according to court documents. A cause of death was never determined.
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh announced during the couple’s formal arraignment in February 2022 that he would seek the death penalty against them. In making that decision, he cited aggravating factors, such as the child’s age and the fact the death happened while another felony was allegedly committed, along with the belief that torture led to the baby’s death.
During Tuesday morning’s hearing, Walsh said Wilt’s negotiated plea and sentence are contingent upon her cooperation with prosecutors and testimony against Hollis at his eventual trial.
“Should she not do that, then the commonwealth will seek a sentence to the fullest extent punishable by the law,” Walsh said.
Wilt’s defense attorney, Jacob Mihalov, made sure during the proceeding to make the distinction between a guilty plea and her no contest plea, meaning Wilt is not admitting guilt but acknowledging that prosecutors would be able to prove at trial that she was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Her formal sentencing by DiSalle will be deferred until after the case against Hollis is adjudicated, although there is no scheduled date yet for his trial.
Before the proceeding, Hollis asked sheriff’s deputies whether he could be taken to a holding cell elsewhere in the courthouse rather than attend Wilt’s plea hearing. He was not granted that request, and instead sat alone with his attorneys near the jury box while shackled and wearing an orange jail jumpsuit as Wilt confirmed to DiSalle that she would testify against Hollis if he eventually goes to trial. Hollis, 31, is still facing homicide and numerous other felony charges, and he could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder.
Following Wilt’s hearing, Hollis took a seat at the defense table with his attorneys, Chad Schneider and Dennis Popojas, for a brief pre-trial conference in which they were asking DiSalle to review the child’s autopsy report and transcripts from the couple’s preliminary hearing.
Both Hollis and Wilt were then escorted out of the courthouse by sheriff’s deputies and returned to the Washington County jail, where they’ve been held without bond since their arrest in December 2021.