Accused L5P killer granted bail

TERRY WILLIAMS: Gunned down in front of Little Five Points home in May

(photo by Kevin Green)

After 47-year-old Terry Williams was shot in the head and killed in front of his Little Five Points home in May during what police called an attempted armed robbery, neighborhood residents and business owners collected money for reward and distributed a sketch of the suspect to help Atlanta police find his killer.

Now some of those neighbors worry his accused killer could be back on the streets at any moment.

On Dec. 17, Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Bedford Jackson set bail in the case at $92,500. Charged with felony murder, 19-year-old Cori Williams (no relation to the victim), might need as little as $9,250 to get out of jail pending trial.

Little Five Points residents are outraged and frightened.

“People don’t expect a person charged with felony murder to be granted a bond,” said Dr. Richard Shapiro, a friend and neighbor of the victim. “The people I’ve spoken to are afraid. The possibility of someone capable of that level of crime being back on the streets puts a sense of fear in the community.”

Fulton County District Attorney calls the judge’s decision “a disgrace.”

“Why a judge would allow a defendant who murders a citizen by shooting him in the face while attempting to rob him to be released from jail defies reason and spits in the face of justice,” Howard said in a written statement.

Asked if it’s common to grant bond to defendants accused of murder, Howard replied:

Unfortunately, this is not the only Fulton County case in which a murder suspect has been freed on bond. Over our objections, many of these cases are handled in that fashion. Our statistics show about 40 percent of our murder defendants are released on bond. And right now, there are 17 bond forfeitures — murder defendants who failed to show up for trial in our jurisdiction.

In my view, these defendants present a real danger to other victims, witnesses and the community at large. And for those reasons, I strongly believe they should be incarcerated until their cases go to trial.

No one in Judge Jackson’s office was available for comment.