Damion Bryant
Damion Bryant
A Bartholomew County man accused of the murder of his stepfather is asking the court to set him free on bail.
Damion Bryant, 20, who has lived mostly with his mother in either Clifford or Edinburgh his entire life, is accused of committing a Thanksgiving Day shooting that resulted in the death of 49-year-old Wayne E. McGeorge Jr. The alleged killing took place in the McGeorge residence along North Bluff Road, located in the Talberton addition of northwest German Township, according to court documents.
While Indiana law states there is no bail for murder “when the proof is evident or the presumption strong,” public defender Chris Monroe – who filed for Thursday’s bail review hearing on Jan. 6 – insists that it is not the case for his client.
The evidence against Bryant is a probable cause affidavit filed by an investigator with the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Office, Monroe said.
“I don’t think it’s a murder case,” Monroe told Bartholomew Circuit Judge Kelly Benjamin. “I think it’s something less than that.
Monroe was asking that bail be set at $50,000 surety, which would enable Bryant to be released on a 10% cash ($5,000) bond.
Claiming there are nothing to suggest his client is a threat to others, Monroe told the judge Bryant has never been disciplined at school, has no criminal history, has never been arrested nor even received a traffic ticket.
He also claimed the defendant was the first to call 911 after his stepfather’s shooting, which Monroe says is very unusual for a murder suspect to do.
During the hearing, the victim’s sister-in-law, Carrie McGeorge, told the judge that Bryant’s younger siblings are terrified of him. They are afraid he will either try to come see them in their house or go next door to their grandparent’s residence, she said.
“It would be cruel punishment to good people to let him go free,” she said in court.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Kimberly Sexton-Yeager argued that Bryant has only held one job in his entire life that he quit after only a few days. Other than that, the defendant has always relied on his mother to support him.
And while a friend who lives with his fiance in a Columbus apartment complex testified in court the defendant can stay with him as long as he wants, that doesn’t exclude the possibility that he may be asked to leave in the future, the prosecution argued.
Bryant said he would rely on his friend for financial support. But when asked where he would go if he were asked to leave, the defendant said he could not think of any other place.
While a defendant is considered innocent until proven guilty, Indiana law states a person charged with murder has the burden of proof that he should be allowed to go free on bail.
However, investigators state in the probable cause affidavit that Bryant admitted to deputies he was the one who had shot the victim.
Things escalated out of control after a fight broke out between the victim and Bryant’s mother, Angela, according to court records. Bryant said when the victim was drinking, he could become aggressive and “things could go bad and he (Bryant) may have to ‘punch him or shoot him,’” the affidavit states.
The defendant told investigators that Wayne McGeorge Jr. pushed on him and put his hands around his neck, and that Bryant then pushed him away with the barrel of the gun, which then discharged, striking the victim in the abdomen, according to the affidavit.
The defendant became visibly upset when told his stepfather had died and started crying as he exclaimed “I killed him,” the affidavit states.
Since the judge did not have a complete pre-trial report on Bryant, Benjamin said she would wait until that entire report was submitted to court. Once that was done, both Monroe and Sexton-Yeager would be given three days to study the report before Benjamin rules on the request for the lower bond.
