Testimony during the bond revocation hearing for Travis Lamont Layne, a suspect in the 2019 death of a New Iberia teen, raised questions for the victim’s family about how he was allowed out of jail after he allegedly beat an Iberia Parish School District bus driver last month.

Layne was in court Tuesday morning after prosecutors filed a motion to revoke his bond on charges stemming from the August 2019 shooting death of 17-year-old Garon Lewis. He had most recently been released on $100,000 bond in January after being released in November without bond.

While out on bond, Layne was charged with second-degree battery, terrorizing and several other charges in the beating of a bus driver on Feb. 26. That charge precipitated the bond revocation request on the murder conspiracy charge.

Layne was in jail prior to his hearing after turning himself in on the battery charge Friday. His bond in that case is set at $165,000.

On Tuesday, 16th Judicial District Court Judge Lewis Pitman reset Layne’s bond in the Garon Lewis case to $795,000, for a total of $960,000.

But during testimony Tuesday, bondsman Dana Bennett of Bustin Loose Jail Bonds in Jeanerette said that Layne had specifically instructed her to go not to Pitman, but to 16th JDC Judge Suzanne DeMahy to have his bond set.

Judges are normally set in criminal cases by lottery, with the Clerk of Court’s office assigning a random judge to a case. Although it is not unheard of for a bail bondsman to make a request of a judge, it is not typical to have a judge not involved in a case requested.

“Just that one judge,” said Raymond “Shoe-Do” Lewis, Garon Lewis’ father, after watching the hearing. “Layne called and told the bondsman, ‘That judge.’ A murderer telling the bondsman which judge to go to, the appearance of that. What does she owe him?”

DeMahy is the judge who had released Layne without bond in November, citing the lack of a speedy trial and refusing the 16th JDC District Attorney’s Office argument that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic had prevented them from prosecuting the case in a timely manner.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals weighed in after a request from the District Attorney’s Office, saying that DeMahy had abused her discretion in releasing Layne without bond and sending the issue back to the 16th District. Pitman then set his bond at $100,000 in January.

Under the new bond agreement, in addition to a much higher financial bar, multiple new conditions were attached, including the requirement that Layne wear a monitoring ankle bracelet and have his movements restricted.

Layne is scheduled to go to trial on charges in the Garon Lewis death on April 5.