Photo by Nathan Morgan/Daily News Gilbert Uccardia Holts Jr., 32, of Lexington, Ky. appears before Warren Circuit Court Judge Steve Alan Wilson for sentencing, Friday, March 22, 2013 at the Warren County Justice Center in Bowling Green, Ky. Holts pled guilty last month to killing Jamaal Covington and Latasia Kirk on April 21, 2005. Holts was sentenced to two life sentences for two counts of murder, with eligibly for parole in 20 years.

The T-shirts that Clara Barnett and Sharon Jones wore Friday to the Warren County Justice Center bore pictures and nicknames of two loved ones lost too soon – a pair of lives snuffed out by the man who Barnett and Jones were there to address.

Gilbert Uccardia Holts Jr., 32, of Lexington, was handed two life sentences for two counts of murder. He will have to serve at least 20 years in prison before he can see a parole board.

Holts pleaded guilty last month to killing Jamaal Covington and Latasia Kirk on April 21, 2005, shooting them both in the head at Willow Creek Apartments, 1029 Shive Lane. Covington was 26, while Kirk turned 21 on the date of her death.

Emotions spilled over at the sentencing hearing Friday.

Covington’s mother, Barnett, wore a pink T-shirt memorializing her son, known to those close to him as “Crow.” The back of her T-shirt read “My son Crow Dogg is finally rested.”

As Holts sat facing forward, appearing to show no emotion, Barnett stood at a podium to his right and read from a written statement that castigated Holts for his actions while illustrating the effect of Covington’s death on her and her family.

“You took the coward’s way out,” Barnett said. “A real man would’ve taken this case to trial and explained why you took the life of a man. … I pray you find remorse in your cold heart for murdering my son.”

With a trembling voice, Barnett spoke of Covington’s five surviving children asking whether their father is an angel now and also brought up the friendship that Holts and Covington once had, mentioning the meals Holts had with Barnett and her family and the hug Holts had given her after the deaths.

Court records show that Covington was living in an apartment leased in Holts’ name at the time of the deaths.

As Warren Circuit Judge Steve Wilson pronounced the final sentence toward the end of the hearing, Barnett broke down sobbing while sitting among family members.

Jones, Kirk’s aunt, wore a purple T-shirt with a picture of Kirk on the front.

Jones read from a statement that mentioned that Kirk was sleeping when her life came to an end.

Kirk’s death has had a devastating emotional effect on her surviving family, Jones said.

“My mother, who raised ‘Tasia from birth and was so full of life, gave up,” Jones said. “I’ve become an angrier person, quick to snap, I don’t trust easy at all. I feel I have to keep her memory alive. My biggest fear one day is I will forget ‘Tasia’s smile.”

Holts, represented by James Rhorer and Pat Roemer of the state Department of Public Advocacy, did not speak at his sentencing.

After the hearing, Jones said the surviving family members are now starting a long process to tend to their emotional wounds.

“This is the beginning of our healing process for closure,” Jones said outside the courtroom. “Today, (Holts) showed no remorse. He didn’t have anything to say to us.”

The Bowling Green Police Department investigated the double homicide jointly with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

In January 2010, a person identified in court records only as a “cooperating defendant” contacted ATF Special Agent David Hayes and said he knew who shot Covington and Kirk.

Four months later, Hayes and now-retired BGPD Detective Barry Raley met with the man, who said he was outside the apartment when Covington and Kirk were killed and heard gunshots, according to the arrest warrant for Holts.

The cooperating defendant later became a confidential informant for Hayes and established telephone contact with Holts, and several telephone conversations were recorded between the two men.

According to the arrest warrant, the informant met with Holts and held a recorded conversation in which Holts talked about being questioned by police and refusing to take a polygraph.

Holts told the informant how he killed Covington and Kirk and that he had hoped in the days following the homicides that the informant would not tell anyone, according to the warrant.

The only other person Holts reportedly disclosed information to about the homicides was his brother, who is not named in the warrant.

Police arrested Holts on March 29, 2011, in Lexington.