BOGALUSA, La. - A Bogalusa family told Eyewitness News Friday, they believe bond was set too low for an accused killer, and they are now worried about their safety.
Donald Sampson is home on house arrest, after being charged with the second-degree murder of 35-year old Keith Magee.
The killing happened on September 30, on East 8th Street. Magee was shot multiple times.
"He was shot several times in the back," Bogalusa Police Sargeant Darryl Darden said Friday, "and one time in the arm."
Darden said, witnesses identified Sampson as the shooter, and he called the case against Sampson strong. "We're very confident we got the right person," Sgt. Darden added.
Sampson's bond was originally set at $1.5 million, but at a bond hearing last Wednesday, Judge William Burris reduced the bond to $150,000. Sampson posted bond and was released from jail.
"It was just devastating to me," Keith Magee's sister, Vernita Magee, said Friday, "just to know that he's out, getting haircuts and doing whatever he's doing with his family, and we don't have our brother to do anything with us anymore."
Vernita Magee said, her brother and Donald Sampson were lifelong friends, who had a recent falling out. She called the reduced bond, too low. "That just wasn't right," Vernita Magee said, "I feel like they really weren't giving us justice, and they didn't even tell us when he was let out."
Sampson is now home on house arrest, living very close to where some of the Magee family lives. That's a concern to both attorneys and police.
"On a murder case, yeah, we do worry about that," Sgt. Darden said. "We're up there, we do our job and put people in jail, and it does bother police." Darden also said, he had never seen a second-degree Murder suspect bond out in Bogalusa.
We don't think he (Sampson) is a threat to anybody else," Sampson's attorney, Al Bensabat said Friday, "I'm more concerned about something happening to my client."
Bensabat said, Judge Burris considered other factors, such as, whether Sampson had a previous record of violent behavior, and the circumstances of the shooting. "He (Sampson) denies the circumstances of how it happened," Bensabat added. " We don't believe this is a second-degree murder, by any means."
Bensabat wouldn't go into details of his defense, but added, "Under the circumstances, I think the bond is reasonable. I think he's compliant with the conditions of bond, and I think it ought to stay where it is."
The Washington Parish District Attorney's Office disagreed. They have requested a hearing to increase bond. No date has been set for that hearing. The Magee family also wants the bond raised. "He's on the front porch playing with his kids," Vernita Magee said. "My brother can't play with his two little girls anymore."
The District Attorney's Office expects to present their second-degree murder case against Sampson to the Washington Parish Grand Jury next week.
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