JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- An Indiana judge ordered an accused killer to be released from jail Tuesday morning. But then Tuesday afternoon, he changed his mind.
Thomas Smith is accused of killing his girlfriend, Michelle Slaughter, in a Clarksville home in June 2021. Police arrested Smith in Bowling Green, Kentucky, shortly after the shooting.
Detectives said Smith had blood on his clothes and hands and more than $15,000 in the truck he was driving.
On Tuesday morning, during a bond hearing, Judge Daniel Donahue, who was filling in for another judge, ordered Smith to be released. He said more evidence was needed.
Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull then asked for a motion to reconsider and presented the evidence.
"I want to make it clear that my office had presented those arguments and that evidence earlier in the case to another judge," Mull said. "So once we found this judge wanted to hear those things, we had officers come in and present that evidence again."
"We were scared to death he was going to get out," Patty Slaughter, the victim's mother, said Tuesday. "My grandbabies were terrified."
And then Tuesday afternoon, Donahue ordered Smith be held without bond until his trial. That's expected to begin in September.
Related Stories:
- Not guilty plea entered for man charged in fatal shooting of Clarksville woman
- Suspect in Clarksville fatal shooting arrested in Bowling Green
- Police release identity of Clarksville woman who died after shooting
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