A request to lower the bond for murder suspect Demar’tez Thruston was denied Tuesday in Circuit Court. After deeming Thruston a flight risk, Circuit Court Judge Jay Wethington kept the bond at $150,000 full cash.
Thruston, 19, was arrested in Louisville in October after being indicted for murder by the Daviess County Grand Jury on May 1. He was charged alongside an additional suspect Talen Johnson for the shooting homicide of Kevin D. White, which occurred in the 1000 block of W. 8th St. on March 12, 2019.
Johnson, 19, has been held on a $250,000 full cash bond at the Daviess County Detention Center on charges of murder and first-degree burglary since June 5.
Prosecutors worried about Thruston being a flight risk due to his move to Louisville soon after being declared a suspect in White’s murder.
“This is an individual who, while being sought by the government, took refuge in Louisville,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Brian Quattrocchi. “He was ultimately found after multiple hours and manpower from the U.S. Marshall’s Service.”
Defense attorney Ramon McGee, though, said his client shouldn’t be considered a flight risk because he stuck around to be interviewed by police and was present in District Court for a separate misdemeanor charge a few days after the shooting happened.
“When he had a court appearance scheduled, he appeared,” McGee said. “He came before District Court with his family and took responsibility. He paid the appropriate fines and costs associated with that charge.”
McGee said those actions indicated Thruston would continue to comply with court-ordered appearances for his felony charge if he were to be released from jail for the remainder of the time before the trial.
McGee also pointed to Thruston’s employment with UPS as a sign that he was not hiding. However, Quattrocchi argued that Thruston’s employment with UPS ended in the first quarter of 2019, and that White’s murder happened in March.
“After that, all employment stops,” he said. “He was not trying to be seen, he was not trying to be found, and he certainly wasn’t bringing himself before this court willingly.”
In his request to have Thruston’s bond lowered, McGee pointed to other homicide suspects that had their bonds lowered in recent weeks.
“Although he faces a single count of homicide, [Thruston’s] bond is substantially higher than some of these other cases that have come before this court recently that have had more charges,” McGee said. “And in those cases, there are individuals who’ve taken responsibility for, at least, a double homicide. I would note to the court that if we’re going to set a comparable bond, we would look at a young man who has a relatively minor criminal history, who has asserted his innocence on a charge that, frankly, is going to have evidence that’s going to be speculative in regard to his ultimate responsibility.”
Wethington said he would not compare bonds between different cases as a general rule. He then deemed Thruston to be a flight risk and kept his bond at $150,000 full cash.
“He has a record of fleeing — the Commonwealth alleges that, in this case, he was fleeing when he was apprehended by the United States Marshall,” Wethington said. “A record of flight is evidence of guilt.”
