This browser does not support the Video element.
ATLANTA - A Fulton County Court Magistrate judge granted bond to a 17-year-old murder suspect accused of killing a decorated disabled veteran, which was suspended a day later.
The Fulton County District Attorney's Office, outraged over the judge's decision, filed an emergency motion, which led to Magistrate Judge Jaslovelin Lall suspending the bond.
"My husband was murdered and it was business as usual," said Angela Smith, the wife of Randy Smith, who was found murdered in her family's rental property off Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard Southwest.
A staff member for Magistrate Judge Jaslovelin Lall would not comment on her initial reasoning for the bond.
Smith said she had been unable to sleep since the suspect, now identified as 17-year-old Tarik Vasquez, was temporarily granted bond.
"It was like my husband become invisible," Smith said, who was appalled at the release despite the brutality of the criminal allegations.
Randy Smith, 58, was discovered shot and killed in his family's rental home, after his wife reported him missing. Police said Smith had gone to the home to clean it up for future tenants; days before, police said he had confronted individuals who were not supposed to live there, and was working to get them out.
Police said Vasquez, who was 16 at the time, turned himself in.
Another hearing for Vasquez's bond has been rescheduled for October 27.