Kira Jo Hodges was placed on four years of probation Friday for her part in two armed robberies in one day that shocked Benson and Sierra Vista residents in 2021.
Hodges, who was 17 at the time, had a gun in her waistband while she distracted a cashier at a Circle K in Sierra Vista around 6:30 a.m. on Feb. 18, 2021. None of the victims saw the gun, but a co-defendant brandished a knife and even put the knife against the back of the Circle K cashier.
As part of a plea deal, Hodges pleaded guilty in December to two Class 4 felonies of robbery, one for the Circle K and the other related an armed robbery the same morning at Benson Donuts.
Judge Jason Lindstrom had discretion to impose a prison sentence of up to 2.5 years for each count or refer the defendant to probation for no more than 8 years.
The judge opted for the probation route as recommended by the Cochise County Adult Probation Department, which noted in a presentence report the option would provide Hodges “with needed community-based correctional treatment in the most effective manner.”
Lindstrom the judge made sure Hodges, now 19, understands prison time remains an option if she violates her conditions of probation.
“You still face a lot of prison time if you come back before the Court,” he told Hodges during the sentencing hearing.
Court records show detectives in Benson and Sierra Vista quickly connected the crimes to the same unknown suspects. But it would be nearly 10 months before investigators received two tips linking Logan Porter Wolfgang Martin to the crimes.
Martin, who was also 17 at the time of the crimes, admitted in a December 2021 police interview to taking part in the two armed robberies in an attempt to obtain cash for someone’s birthday. He identified Hodges as the person who took part in the armed robberies with him and 16-year-old Taryn Symone Green as the get-away driver who waited outside.
The Cochise County Attorney’s Office offered Martin a plea deal that guaranteed he would be placed on probation for two counts of robbery, with all charges of armed robbery dismissed. He was sentenced last month to serve five years of probation.
The Circle K cashier was not pleased with the promise of probation, court records show.
Laurel Murphy, the deputy probation officer who wrote Martin’s presentence report, told Judge Timothy Dickerson the cashier considered probation “too light of a sentence” given the circumstances of the case.
Murphy added that the cashier, who previously worked several years as a prison guard, described feeling safer “on the prison’s worse day” than she did during the armed robbery.
Other court records show the trio turned their attention to another target after discovering they only scored $85 from the Circle K. It was Green who suggested hitting Benson Donuts, according to Martin.
Security video shows Hodges walk into Benson Donuts with Martin as they appear to be picking out the doughnuts they want. Martin then casually strolls behind the counter as he waves a long knife at the owner and backs her into a corner.
Martin then accessed the cash register before the two leave the store with a box of doughnuts.
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Hodges was arrested Jan. 19, 2022. She confirmed Martin’s statements about Green’s limited participation as driver.
Documents in Green’s case show she was taken into custody shortly after Hodges. She pleaded guilty last month to two counts of facilitation of aggravated robbery as part of a plea deal that guarantees probation for no more than six years when Lindstrom conducts her sentencing hearing on March 24.
The plea deal stipulates Green’s convictions will be considered undesignated Class 6 felonies which can be downgraded to Class 1 misdemeanors if Green successfully completes probation. A presentence report for Green will be prepared for the judge closer to sentencing.
Green and Martin also face the possibility of prison time if they fail on probation.
For Martin, his exposure is the same as Hodges’ – 2.5 years in prison for each of the robberies. Green’s exposure is a one-year prison term for each count.
The prison terms could be ordered to run consecutively, or back-to-back, because the convictions involved distinct criminal offenses despite occurring on the same day.
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