Bond hearings held for suspects in local homicide
Bond hearings were held for Johnathan D. Boykin, Deuntae Williams and Markevius Blake last Thursday during a special docket of the Union County Circuit Court, Fourth Division. Boykin, Williams and Blake are co-defendants and all three suspects in the December shooting death of El Dorado resident James D. Bowens, Jr.
According to court records, Boykin, Williams and Blake were arrested on December 28,
2020 following a shooting at the Hudson Place Apartments in El Dorado that left Bowens dead as he slept in a vehicle.
A second victim came under fire while re-entering the vehicle from his apartment and survived despite suffering six gunshot wounds.
Williams, Blake and Boykin were identified as suspects in an investigation conducted by the
El Dorado Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, according to previous News-Times reporting.
Each suspect faces charges of first-degree murder and first-degree battery.
Boykin was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Little Rock on February 10; Blake was arrested in Sheridan on February 22; and Williams taken
into custody on February 24 in Pine Bluff.
No bond was set by Judge Jack Barker, of 35th Judicial District Court, during the three suspects’ first appearance hearings in February.
Motions for bond were submitted for each suspect by their defense on May 11, asking in all three cases that the “bond be set to a reasonable amount, such as a signature bond.”
Responses submitted by 13th Judicial District Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Carla Gibson argued in the cases of Williams and Blake against alterations to the bonds as previously set due to the suspects not being residents of Union County and the seriousness of the charges. A response to Boykin’s bond request motion was not available in court records.
Boykin, Blake and Williams are all residents of Jefferson County, according to court documents.
The three suspects, according to the docket, appeared before Judge Robin Carroll during a special docket on Thursday, July 29, for bond hearings.
According to the Union County Sheriff’s Office, Boykin and Williams were given $500,000 cash or corporate bonds, while Blake’s bond remained unchanged. All three were still being held in the Union County Jail as of Monday, August 2, and are set to appear again in court on Tuesday, August 17.