Bond amount raised for suspect in Memphis police officer shooting
UPDATE, BOND AMOUNT RAISED: Geronimo Kee’s bond has increased from $175,000 to $500,000, according to jail records on Tuesday.
He is charged with attempted first-degree murder, evading arrest, employment of a firearm in a felony and speeding.
The low bond amount had drawn criticism from several elected officials. See original story below.
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Bizarre behavior in court Monday morning led to a mental evaluation to be ordered for the man charged with shooting a Memphis Police lieutenant during a traffic stop Friday.
Geronimo Kee, the suspected shooter, faced a judge Monday, along with three of the four people now charged as accessories after the fact.
MPD says Kee alerted his mother along with two others, telling them he was injured in the shooting during a traffic stop Friday on Interstate 240. A Memphis Police officer was left in critical condition.
Suspect captured after MPD officer shot during traffic stop on I-240
On Monday, the judge ordered a mental evaluation for Kee after he said he was being held against his will and he was not subject to “maritime law” when asked whether he could pay his bond.
“Maritime law? Are we on a ship?” Judge Christian Johnson asked.
The judge said Kee was speaking “nonsense.” Kee was ordered back to court on March 25.
Three of the four other defendants — Zaire Kee, the alleged shooter’s sister, Tezaree Pennington, his mother, and Malik Oliver — were ordered back to court on April 8 with an attorney.
According to court records, one of the four accessory defendants, Kennedy Williams, is the accused shooter’s girlfriend. Investigators say she set up an Uber ride for Kee after he told her he shot an officer.
She is set to face a judge on Tuesday.
Investigators say the group went to a Walgreens and gathered supplies to bandage his injury.
Kee was later arrested at his girlfriend’s apartment in Raleigh.
Five people facing charges in Memphis officer shooting
Kee’s bond was set to $175,000, despite Memphis Police recommending “no bond” for the 22-year-old.
The low bond amount drew responses from several elected officials, and from the Memphis Police Association, which said the group was “stunned” at the bond.
“Setting low bonds for violent criminals, including those who commit acts of violence against police, not only poses a continued threat to public safety, but it also frustrated the brave men and women in blue who go out every single day and night and risk it all to protect and serve the citizens of this great city,” MPA said in a news release.
Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor who has been a critic of the current bail system in Shelby County was not happy with the bond given.
“It pisses me off. We are working really hard to try and bring about some law and order in this community and apparently what we have is lawlessness,” said Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor.
Taylor was part of a discussion late last week among state senators proposing a constitutional amendment for judges to have the discretion in certain cases to deny bail for offenders. But there are questions about overburdening the already stretched-thin jails in the state.
“Well we need to plan and commit ourselves that if we’re going to put these people away and deny them a bail, that’s not the argument, then where are we going to put them,” said Senator Todd Gardenhire of Chattanooga.
Also, questions about what accused crimes fall within the proposal as well as possible legal and financial ramifications.
“Everybody in America should have the right to be innocent until proven guilty. That’s in our constitution. There’s a reason why this was put in place in 1796,” said Senator Raumesh Akbari of Memphis.
But others had a different take altogether.
Senator Frank Niceley, from east of Knoxville, says while this bill needs a two-thirds vote to make it to the ballot, he claims they also only need those votes to remove a judge or DA.
“So I propose that every year we pick a soft-on-crime judge or a soft-on-crime DA, vote him out of office, scare the rest of them, and before long, we’ll have a judicial system that we can be proud of,” Niceley said.
Criminal history is also taken into account when setting bonds. WREG checked and found nothing for Kee as an adult in Shelby County records.
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