Man Bails Out Of Jail For Murder, Shoots Two More People – DA Claims Low Bail Was Still Justified
Tavoris Ferrell was out on bond for murder when he shot two more people.
Tavoris Ferrell Wanted For Shootings
Atlanta, GA – After Tavoris Ferrell was booked for murder, the judge set his bail at only $80,000 ($8,000 bond.) Facing life in prison, Ferrell bailed out and shot two more people. He remains on the run.
The latest murders occurred about 5:30 AM in the same northwest Atlanta neighborhood, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Police said that Ferrell got into the car of a female acquaintance in a convenience store parking lot, located in the 1300 block of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard.
Atlanta Police Officer Donald Hannah said then that the unidentified female victim “…was located in her vehicle in the yard of a residence on Oakmont Drive after being shot in the face. She had panicked and crashed her vehicle into a house on Oakmont Drive while looking for help.
Police said that Ferrell traveled east after shooting the woman, and opened fire on an Uber driver at the intersection of Joseph E. Boone Boulevard and Hamilton E. Holmes Drive.
Officer Hannah said that the driver, who was not identified, was shot in the abdomen, and a passenger received minor injuries from glass fragments. Both the woman and the Uber driver were initially listed in critical condition; their condition has not been publicly updated.
No motive is known for the shootings.
Tavoris Ferrell was only identified as the suspect recently, and court records show that he was out of jail on $80,000 bail on a pending murder charge.
In that 2015 incident, police said that Ferrell took cocaine before getting in a car, and driving between speeds of between 100 mph and 120 mph, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Police said that Ferrell came to a sudden stop, and as his passenger and friend John Dawson got out of the vehicle, Ferrell suddenly accelerated. Dawson’s head hit the roadway as he flew out of Ferrell’s car.
He was transported to a local hospital, and died days later. Ferrell fled after Dawson was thrown from the vehicle, and was later arrested on charges of murder, three counts of vehicular homicide, DUI, hit-and-run, aggravated assault, and reckless driving.
The case is still pending in court, but Ferrell was released in 2016 after he paid his bond. In January, 2017, Ferrell was arrested again by Atlanta police on a misdemeanor theft charge. He was booked into the Fulton County Jail, but made bond (again) a few days later.
If Ferrell had remained in custody, the Uber driver and the woman might not have been shot.
In a statement, District Attorney Paul Howard said that he had reviewed the transcript of the bond, and he agreed “with the judge and my assistant who handled the matter that such bond was justified.”
Atlanta Police are still searching for Ferrell, and need your help in locating him. He is described as a black male, 5′ 11″, 180 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Anyone with information is asked to call 911, or the Atlanta Police Department.
Do you think that there’s any excuse for letting murder suspects out on bond? We’d like to hear from you. Please let us know in the comments.
