What happened at Jaylen Lobley’s bond hearing before shootout with police
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — More information has been released about a bond hearing that put an 18-year-old back on the street just weeks before he was in a shootout with police, leaving an MPD officer dead.
WREG has obtained the recording of 18-year-old Jaylen Lobley’s bond hearing on March 7, after his arrest for having two stolen vehicles and a Glock converted into a machine gun.
Suspect dead after shootout with police had been arrested, released in March, records show
Judicial Commissioner Chris Ingram was hearing the case to determine if Lobley’s bond would stay at $10,000. The state is able to argue at those hearings if they think the bond should be changed.
On the recording, the prosecuting attorney says he doesn’t see Lobley as a flight risk, and he doesn’t have any prior criminal record.
“He is 18 so there will obviously be no prior criminal record as far as adult court. I can’t attest to his juvenile record or bring that up,” he said.
He says the $10,000 bond does seem low, but since Lobley was to be in court the next day, there was no need to adjust it.
“My suggestion is to keep it the same, but if the court is inclined to lower it, I won’t be upset at that,” he said.
Judge says release of teen in officer shooting ‘appropriate’
The Judicial Commissioner did lower the bond. In fact, he released Lobley on his own recognizance, without Lobley having to pay anything.
Just weeks later, Lobley and a 17-year-old were in a shoot out with Memphis Police. Lobley and Police Officer Joseph McKinney were killed.
Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis pointed out the bond that put Lobley back on the street.
Shortly after the the shooting, the District Attorney’s Office released a statement saying, “The Bond was granted by a Judicial Commissioner following a hearing where our office strongly argued against lowering the bond, citing the defendant’s danger to the community.”
But that is clearly not what you hear in the recording from the bail hearing.
D.A. Mulroy’s statement also said Lobley’s case had been accepted for federal prosecution. Though, they later said that happened after the hearing, so the judge who set bond would have no knowledge of that.
Teens involved in police shooting had juvenile records
WREG reached out to the district attorney’s office about the discrepancy. D.A. Steve Mulroy released a statement Wednesday acknowledging the previous statement he made regarding the lowering of Lobley’s bond and his release.
“Our initial statement was crafted before I listened to the entire audio of the hearing, and was
based on preliminary information from the case prosecutor. While our prosecutor accurately
conveyed our opposition to any lowering of the bond or ROR, upon reviewing the audio, we
realized that the phrase “strongly oppose” was not correct. We acknowledge any confusion this
may have caused.
The prosecutor opposed any lowering of the bond, and stressed the importance of cases
involving stolen vehicles and Glock switches. This is in accord with our V11 violent crime
initiative, which prioritizes such offenses and has proven effective in the prosecution of several
recent cases. In the wake of this tragedy, I have reemphasized to all attorney supervisors our
presumption against ROR in V11 cases.
Transparency is important to our office. We want the public to know that our commitment
remains unchanged. We will promptly and decisively prosecute the individuals who are
disrupting our communities by committing these violent crimes. Criminals need to know that
there will be consequences for their actions, especially when they are violent.”
The governing body that appoints judicial commissioners may be taking a second look at the positions. Commissioner Mick Wright told WREG he has been talking with state officials and will be proposing something soon.
📲 Download the WREG App today and stay up to date with breaking news and weather.
📧 Sign up for WREG newsletters and have the latest top stories sent right to your inbox.
📡 See more breaking news, local news and weather from WREG.com for Memphis and the Mid-South.
Other Commissioners say with what is happening in our community, more scrutiny may be warranted.
“I think the accountability of us to look at are we seeing more people get out on their RORs when they have some back history of charges. So I would think really having more accountability to that on our part as County Commissioners to make sure they are doing the job we are looking for them to do,” said Commissioner Charlie Caswell.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
