KINGWOOD — Despite support from family and friends, Preston Circuit Judge Steve Shaffer refused to set bond Wednesday for Aaron Glenn Hoard, who is accused of killing Grant Felton Jr. on Nov. 3.
In fact, all that support influenced his decision against bond, the judge said at the conclusion of a two-hour hearing in a courtroom ringed by police officers.
Those attending the hearing had to go through two metal detectors at the Preston County Courthouse, and no bags or purses were permitted. Hoard and Felton’s family and friends were seated separately in the courtroom by officers and only allowed to leave several minutes apart.
Hoard’s mother, Deanna Hoard; father, William Hoard; and employee, Dale Thomas Rice; all said they would put their property up for surety if bond was set. Defense attorney Belinda Haynie asked that bond be set at $220,000, the amount they had. Preston Assistant Prosecutor Megan Allender opposed bail.
Deanna Hoard testified that Aaron, 33, contacted her the night of the shooting and later stayed at her home for a while. Although she saw a news report later that said he was wanted, no police called or came to his house or hers, she said.
It was she who advised him to contact an attorney and surrender to police, which he did Nov. 4.
“He told me that he shot a gun and he was afraid someone was shot,” Deanna Hoard said. Later she said, “He told me that there had been an altercation. That he was afraid for his life and he shot in the air and after he left he became concerned somebody might have been shot.”
Allender said video from that night shows Aaron Hoard leaving the area in his truck, then returning. He didn’t tell you Felton was shot five times and died, she asked Deanna Hoard.
She acted to protect her son’s rights and worried about threats made against him on Facebook, his mother said. Deanna Hoard denied looking at Facebook herself but said others sent the posts to her.
At one point under questioning from Allender, Deanna Hoard invoked her Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer a question because it might incriminate her.
A secretary for Morgantown attorney Michael Sharley, Deanna Hoard said, “I have seen people go to jail for things they didn’t do.”
The judge noted that when Aaron Hoard left Shorthorns in Terra Alta, he could have stopped at the sheriff’s department or state police in Kingwood and told them his story. Instead he went home to Morgantown.
Bond has two purposes, the judge said, to ensure the accused appears for all court hearings and to protect the public.
“I am not sure that his family would not pool their resources and help Mr. Hoard leave the country,” Shaffer said.
He noted Hoard is charged with first-degree murder, which carries a possible life sentence.
As for witness testimony that Aaron Hoard is not a violent person and not a risk to the community, something happened on Nov. 3 that led to shots being fired, Shaffer said. He couldn’t risk it happening again, endangering others, the judge said.
“When people carry firearms and there’s altercations, things happen,” Shaffer said.
Star City Mayor Herman Reid, a retired police officer, testified that Aaron Hoard and his son went to school and played basketball together. He hadn’t seen Hoard since about 2003 until Hoard opened Custom Concepts in Star City.
“I would be proud to call him my son,” Reid said. “Just because you’re charged doesn’t mean you’re guilty.”
William Hoard, Aaron’s father, said he would put up land that’s been in his family since they got it as a Revolutionary War Land Grant as security for bond. His son would not flee, he said.
Dale Thomas Rice II, who works at Custom Concepts, said Aaron Hoard is close to his three children, two of whom live with their mothers. The youngest child and his mother live with Hoard. Rice said he knew Hoard kept a pistol in his truck but had never seen him use it against anyone.
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