Travis L Layne

The Third Circuit Court of Appeal has rejected a bond reduction for one of the seven suspects charged in the 2019 shooting death of Garon Lewis.

The suspect in question, Travis Lamont Layne Jr., 33, was charged with second-degree murder, criminal conspiracy, aggravated criminal damage to property, illegal use of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of domestic abuse battery. He was first arrested on Oct. 29, 2019, and had been in jail for 13 months at the time of his release on bail after it was reduced.

In its 2-1 decision Wednesday, the court said that 16th Judicial District Judge Suzanne DeMahy abused her discretion, both in failing to consider the priority of another case and in weighing factors in favor of finding a violation of Laynet’s right to a speedy trial.

In dissenting, Third Circuit Judge Sharon D. Wilson said she did not think DeMahy had made an error in her reduction of Layne’s bond.

According to the Iberia Parish Jail inmate log, Layne was re-arrested Friday evening.

The bond reduction was one of several that raised eyebrows last year as several suspects in violent crimes were released on reduced bonds when courts ground to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lewis, the son of Iberia Parish School Board member Raymond “Shoe-Do” Lewis, was killed on Aug. 16, 2019. Dispatchers with the Iberia Parish Communication District received a report of gunfire near Rene and Audrey streets in the Dodge City subdivision around 9:30 p.m. When police arrived, Garon Lewis was found shot in a car at that location.