Alabama mass shooting suspect gets $60K bond while repeat offender denied
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The suspect in a mass shooting in Alabama was given $60,000 bail, while a recent repeat offender in the attack of an elderly woman was ordered to stay behind bars until his trial.
Clarke County Prosecutor Stephen Winters said Brandon Pugh allegedly attacked a 75-year-old woman in her Grove Hill, Alabama, home on Nov. 2 while she was sleeping, according to WALA. The woman was able to escape and go to a neighbor’s house to call police while Pugh attempted to undress inside her home.
Pugh was convicted of indecent assault on three occasions. He also pleaded guilty to burglary in 2019 after breaking into a woman’s home and intending to sexually assault her and commit theft.
A judge ordered Pugh held in jail without bail under Aniah’s Law, which gives judges more power to deny bail to people accused of serious crimes, such as murder, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree rape, first-degree robbery and more. Pugh was charged with first-degree burglary and elder abuse.
ALABAMA SHOOTING SUSPECT WALKS FOR FREE ON $60,000 BOND AS COMMUNITY DEMANDS HE REMAIN LOCKED UP
Brandon Pugh allegedly broke into an elderly woman’s home. (Alabama Law Enforcement Agency)
According to the report, a petition to keep Pugh in jail until his trial because this is not his first serious offense.
Fox News Digital contacted an attorney who last represented Pugh.
One of the suspects in the Oct. 4 mass shooting that took place following the Morehouse-Tuskegee Classic college football game in Montgomery, Alabama, has been given $60,000 bail. Montgomery Police Chief Jim Graboys said two people were killed and 12 others injured, adding that only one of the 14 victims was the intended target. He said there were multiple shooters.
The suspect, Javorick Whiting, 19, was arrested Oct. 16 and charged with attempted murder in connection with the mass shooting. The person Whiting allegedly shot was last reported in critical condition, according to court documents.
MASS SHOOTING SUSPECT REMAINS FREE ON $60,000 BOND AS JUDGE REJECTS PLEA TO INCREASE AMOUNT AMID PUBLIC INDIGATION
Booking photo of 19-year-old Javorick Whiting. (Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office)
After Whiting was taken into custody, a judge set bail at $60,000, which Whiting was able to post on Oct. 17 through a bail bond company, according to court records obtained by Fox News’ digital broadcast.
Prosecutors filed a motion to increase Whiting’s bond.
“The current bail amount is woefully insufficient to protect the public from this dangerous and violent criminal,” the DA’s office wrote.
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Javorick Whiting while being taken into custody by the Montgomery Police Department. (Montgomery Police Department)
District Judge Michael Godwin denied the motion to increase bail, writing that prosecutors had presented no new evidence. Godwin was not the judge who set Whiting’s $60,000 bond.
Richard White, Whiting’s attorney, said in an interview with Fox News Digital that moving to no bail would be a “slippery slope.”
“There are innocent people being arrested and it’s a slippery slope to not give people bail,” White said. “But I understand people’s frustration about it. But I just think, you know, it’s a slippery slope. And look, the case is politicized. I think it has nothing to do with the criminal justice system.”
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey previously expressed frustration with Whiting’s release on bail in a Facebook post.
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This image from video provided by WSFA shows the scene after a shooting earlier Saturday in downtown Montgomery, Alabama, Sunday, October 5, 2025. (WSFA via AP)
“Today we learn that one of the four suspects has been released back onto the streets,” Ivey wrote on October 20. “This is exactly the legal gap that I and many members of the Legislature sought to fill when I signed the Safe Alabama package. This May, all Alabama voters will have the opportunity to end mandatory bail for those suspected of attempted murder by voting to expand Aniah’s Law. I will not forget today’s disturbing news when I vote.”
Lawmakers recently passed legislation that would add attempted murder to the list of eligible charges in Aniah’s law, but it still must be approved by state voters.
