Teen facing murder charge back in custody
By Jack Stephens
Published in News on December 14, 2005 1:49 PM
A Wayne County teenager -- accused of taking part in a murder last year and then freed from custody on a reduced bond -- has been arrested again for violating terms of his pretrial release.
James Marqui Bowden, 18, of Wayne Memorial Drive was arrested last week by Wayne County sheriff's deputies. He was accused of violating terms of his release to the county Day Reporting Center. He was supposed to visit the center three days a week and call two days a week.
When Bowden was picked up, Magistrate Terry Hatch ordered that the teen be held in the Wayne County Jail in lieu of a $500,000 secured bond.
Bowden and two other teens were charged with the murder of Billy Joe "B.J." Gregory of Dudley on Oct. 15, 2004. Bowden, who formerly lived on Daffodil Drive near Dudley, was jailed without bond after he was arrested Oct. 22, 2004.
Later, during a hearing on a bond motion, District Court Judge David Brantley reduced Bowden's secured bond to $75,000. The bond was posted June 13.
The other teenagers -- Michael Omar Mozingo, 19, of Brentwood Drive, Dudley, and Donavan Ray Lofton, 18, of South Running Deer Circle, Dudley -- were arrested Oct. 30, 2004, charged with the murder and jailed without bond.
Mozingo also was released later on a $75,000 secured bond. Lofton remains jailed, unable to post bond.
When deputies answered a 911 call to Gregory's mobile home at 201 Hazelwood Drive, just off Emmaus Church Road, they found the victim with a single gunshot wound in the chest. Gregory was rushed by ambulance to Wayne Memorial Hospital, but he died soon after arriving.
Sheriff's detectives have said only that the crime was drug-related.
Bowden was a sophomore and Mozingo was a senior at Southern Wayne High School. Lofton was a student at Wayne Community College.
A trial date for the three defendants has not been scheduled by the District Attorney's Office.