Woman screams at attorney for murder suspect
‘He murdered my daughter,’ she cries out to public defender.
A mother’s screams filled the room as she stormed after the lawyer tasked with representing the man accused of killing her daughter, Ashley Balius.
“He shot her in the head,” she yelled at the public defender Thursday morning as they left the courtroom. “You’re not going to get him off. I hope he spends the rest of his life in jail.”
Despair crept up in her voice as she cried, “He murdered my daughter.”
Moments before, the woman, who refused to tell a Post reporter her name, had maintained her composure as a judge denied Dwight Luton bail.
The 32-year-old was arrested early Wednesday on first-degree murder and evidence-tampering charges in his wife’s killing. His initial bail hearing was rescheduled from Wednesday until Thursday to determine whether he qualified for a public defender.
The handful of Balius’ loved ones who gathered in a Palm Beach County Jail courtroom Thursday stayed quiet while Judge Dina Keever determined Luton met the criteria to have a public defender. She appointed Joseph Walsh to represent Luton.
Riviera Beach police say Balius, 31, died Tuesday evening from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Surveillance footage from the couple’s Riviera home reportedly captured the moments Tuesday evening before and after Balius was fatally shot. City police say the video tells a different story than Luton’s allegation that his wife accidentally shot herself.
Footage shows Luton jumping out of a blue 2004 Chevy SUV and grabbing a backpack shortly before his wife of less than a year slumps over in the driver’s seat, according to the police report.
Before attending to Balius, who