NEWTON, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina judge ordered Thursday that a defendant accused in last weekend’s shootings at a house party that left one person dead and 11 others injured stay in jail while awaiting trial.
The decision came the day after another judge had set a $200,000 bond for Garon Nathaniel Killian, 20, of Lenoir, who is charged with one count of attempted first-degree murder related to the shootings. Prosecutors on Wednesday had asked that no bond be allowed.
Killian had not posted the amount to be released. On Thursday, when Killian had a court date for charges involving a different altercation in April, District Court Judge Scott Conrad revoked the $200,000 bond related to last weekend’s violent fracas, according to the Catawba County Clerk of Court’s office.
Investigators of the shootings that happened early Sunday believe at least 80 shots were fired in a crime scene that spanned several properties along a road in the usually quiet residential neighborhood. FBI agents spent this week at the scene examining bullet trajectories.
The Catawba County Sheriff’s Office has said that beyond Killian four other people have been arrested and charged with crimes in connection with the party or shootings, and that authorities were seeking on Thursday three other men also wanted on attempted first-degree murder.
Giving Killian on Wednesday the chance to post bond had angered local law enforcement leaders. Hickory city police announced previously that Killian and another young man had been charged with many counts — including attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill — for an April 6 altercation in a parking lot that led to shots being fired into a crowd. No one was injured.
Catawba Sheriff Don Brown said on Wednesday at a media briefing that while Killian was freed by posting bond several days later he “should have never went back on the street,” and called the situation “frustrating” and “infuriating.”
Shawn Patrick Hood, 58, of Lenoir, was killed in last weekend’s gunfire. He was the oldest of the victims, who ranged in age from as young as 16, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said Thursday that Zachary Micheal Bates, 22, of Morganton, was among those arrested and was charged with attempted first-degree murder. The Clerk of Court’s Office said late Thursday that it didn’t immediately have information about Bates, such as an attorney.
Two of the other three people arrested so far were charged with three counts of helping someone under age 21 by allowing the possession of alcoholic beverages. The charges are related to the planning and promotion of the house party, the sheriff’s office said.
There were many juvenile or underage attendees at the party, the state Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement said Wednesday. The other person arrested was charged as an accessory to attempted first-degree murder after the fact, the sheriff’s office said.
