An Alabama man who allegedly shot and killed his father and injured his mother was still granted bail, but his surviving family members called it a “slap in the face.”
John Adam Bowlin, 35, was arrested last week on suspicion of fatally shooting his father, John D. Bowlin, 61, and injuring his mother, Connie Bowlin, 60, inside their home in Moody, Alabama. It was done.
On Tuesday, a judge gave him the chance to bond for a total of $500,000, but the family broke the decision, saying the heartbroken mother still lives in fear of her son.
“She fears for her life,” said Heather Bowlin, the suspect’s sister. WVTM of their mother.
“She doesn’t know if he’s coming back after her or someone else,” she says.
“That’s like a slap in the face.”
The judge’s decision to grant bail follows the passage of Ania’s Law in 2022, which gives judges discretion in assigning bail for defendants who commit violent crimes.
Heather Bowlin acknowledged that it was unlikely her brother would be able to scrape together the money to create a bond.
Still, “that worry is always there. Just for me and my family, and especially my mom,” she said.
“We all would like to see the judge come back and consider this matter and revoke the bail.”
Rep. Chip Brown of Mobile, who authored Ania’s Law, said he disagrees with the judge’s choice but said the law was written to be constitutional.
“It’s important that we do that and we’ve tailored it to the specific case, rather than just a blanket approach, and that’s why you can commit a Class A felony and still be denied bail. “Because it doesn’t work under the Eighth Amendment,” Brown said.
St. Clair County District Attorney Lyle Harmon’s office said it was disappointed in the decision but “has faith in the system.”
“While we can present this case to a judge and agree to disagree, our office intends to continue to prosecute this man for murder for as long as possible,” the prosecutor’s office said.
Bolin remains in the county jail, but if bonded he will have to wear an ankle monitor and will not be able to contact his mother.
