Argument with woman preceded Fort Bliss soldiers' deadly shooting spree, prosecutor says
A magistrate judge lowered the bond amounts to $1.2 million each for two Fort Bliss soldiers accused of killing two people and wounding four others in a shooting spree outside an El Paso bar.
Pvt. Aaron John, 22, and Pfc. Andrew James Williams, 20, who are both from New York, are accused of capital murder and remain at the El Paso County Jail in Downtown. Their bonds were initially set at $2.5 million each.
The soldiers are accused of firing guns into a crowd following a fight on July 13 outside the Ditzy Duck bar in the parking lot of Airway Plaza, 1160 Airway Blvd.
During Tuesday's teleconference bond hearing, the soldiers' attorneys said their clients weren't flight risks and that even if they were to be released from jail, they would be taken into the custody of the U.S. Army.
“As a private in the U.S. Army, he is incapable of posting anything close to that," public defense attorney Marcelo Rivera, who represented Williams, said about the original $2.5 million bond.
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Magistrate Judge Tony Aun, who had set the original bonds, reduced them to $1.2 million at the hearing.
In Texas, capital murder is punishable by life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
Prosecutor: Argument with woman preceded Airway Plaza shooting
The soldiers were outside the Ditzy Duck when one of them got into an argument with a woman companion, drawing the attention of a crowd, which tried to intervene, leading to an argument and a fight, Assistant District Attorney Ray Duke said at the hearing.
The fight ended when Williams and John allegedly pulled out handguns and began firing into the crowd, Duke said. The violent rampage was filmed by security cameras.
A longtime couple, James Nicholson Jr., 26, and Alexa Retana, 27, were killed in the shooting. Four men were wounded.
A person, believed to be an Uber driver, managed to take a photo of the license plate of the suspected shooters' car and the information was broadcast to law enforcement, Duke said.
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Military police stopped the car at the Constitution Gate to Fort Bliss. Two guns believed to have been used in the shooting were found in the vehicle, Duke said.
When questioned by El Paso police detectives, both soldiers allegedly admitted to firing their guns. Investigators are awaiting ballistic tests to determine who shot whom, Duke explained.
“I just know they are both equally as culpable as parties in this case," Duke said at the hearing.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Bond reduced for Fort Bliss soldiers in El Paso shooting spree
