FROM FOX NEWS: An Alabama man charged with attempted murder in a shooting that left two dead and another 12 injured has bonded out of jail, sparking outrage from community members who believe he should remain locked up.
The Oct. 4 shooting took place just after 11:30 p.m., following the Morehouse-Tuskegee Classic college football game in Montgomery, Alabama.
Montgomery Police Chief Jim Graboys said only one of the 14 victims was the intended target, adding there were several shooters.
“This started as the result of an individual, one of these 14 (injured or killed), who we believe was targeted, in which basically an exchange of gunfire erupted,” Graboys said. “When that exchange erupted, multiple people in the crowd pulled their own weapons and started discharging.”
Javorick Whiting, 19, was arrested on Oct. 16 and charged with attempted murder. He and several other suspects, including juveniles, were involved in the Oct. 4 incident. A judge set his bond at just $60,000. Whiting posted it on Oct. 17 through a bail bond company, according to court records reviewed by Fox News Digital.
The public was in an uproar, prompting the Montgomery County district attorney to file a motion to increase Whiting’s bond.
“The current bond amount is woefully inadequate to protect the public from this dangerous and violent criminal,” the DA’s office wrote.
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey took to Facebook with her frustrations.
“Today, we learn that one of the four suspects has been released back onto the streets,” Ivey wrote in a post on Oct. 20. “This is exactly the legal loophole that I and many in the Legislature sought to close when I signed the Safe Alabama package. Next May, all Alabama voters will have a chance to end mandatory bail for those suspected of attempted murder by voting to expand Aniah’s Law. I will not forget today’s troubling news when casting my vote.”
Aniah’s Law, an Alabama constitutional amendment, grants judges the authority to deny bail to individuals accused of specific, serious violent felonies after a pretrial hearing. The law is named after 19-year-old Aniah Blanchard, who was tragically kidnapped and murdered in 2019 by a suspect who was already out on bond for unrelated violent crimes.
Lawmakers recently passed legislation to add attempted murder to the list of eligible charges in Aniah’s Law.
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