CHARLOTTE — A man accused in the shooting death of a nursing student will have to pay a thousand dollars to get out of jail.
Adonis Smith was in court Thursday for a bond reduction hearing. He’s one of two suspects arrested in the death of Kendal Crank.
Crank was driving to school in March of 2019 when she got caught in the crossfire of a shootout between two groups of people.
Smith was already put to trial in March and admitted that he fired the bullet that killed Crank, but he says he did so in self-defense. A majority of jurors believed that, with a nine-to-three vote in favor of not guilty.
PREVIOUS TRIAL COVERAGE:
- Judge declares mistrial in Kendal Crank murder trial
- Prosecutors push for conviction in Kendal Crank murder trial
- Accused killer takes the stand
- Detective takes stand in trial over Kendal Crank’s 2019 death
- Kendal Crank case: Witness describes deadly shootout
- Surveillance video shows moments before and after Kendal Crank’s fatal shooting
- Murder suspect claims self-defense in young mother’s death
- Mother killed in crossfire: Trial starts for first of three suspects
Judge Matt Osman told prosecutors Thursday that he’s never seen a case with such a lopsided hung jury be re-tried a second time. The state says they plan to retry Smith after they couldn’t strike a plea deal with his defense team.
In the end, Osman was critical of prosecutors, saying Smith has already been in jail for six years and they still can’t get a guilty verdict.
The judge said he was uncomfortable setting an unsecured bond for a murder suspect and asked if Smith’s family could put up any money for a secured bond. Then, the bond was set at $10,000.
We reached out to Crank’s family, but we haven’t heard back yet.
The co-defendants in this case are set to go to trial in August.
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