Justice for the Fallen

<p>Imagine one day getting the news that someone you loved was killed at the hands of another person; the pain, the guilt, the disbelief. Clarksville, TN is quickly becoming a town filled with violence. Last year there were approximately 972 violent crimes committed, that is 81 violent crimes a month, 2 per day. Now imagine the relief when your son, daughter, mother, father, sibling's murderer was apprehended, the feeling of finally being&nbsp;safe. Then you get the news...they were let out on bond.&nbsp;</p><p>Effective January 2012, the Tennessee criminal courts now have the authority&nbsp; to modify or revoke bail. Tennessee Code Annotated Section 40-11-141(b) provides as follows:</p><p>If after the defendant is released upon personal recognizance, an unsecured personal appearance bond, or any other bond approved by the court, the defendant violates a condition of release, is charged with an offense committed during the defendant&rsquo;s release, or engages in conduct which results in the obstruction of the orderly and expeditious progress of the trial or other proceedings, then the court may revoke and terminate the defendant&rsquo;s bond and order the defendant held without bail pending trial or without release during trial.</p><p>But who is making sure these criminals, these murderers, are abiding by the conditions of their bonds? What is keeping them from killing someone else, going after the family of the person they killed, or going after the person who turned them in? How are we protecting the citizens of our community?</p><p>This awful scenario happened to Jessenia Mercado who's son, Adam, was murdered on August 29, 2014 at the young age of 19 years old.&nbsp;</p><p>The suspect, Joshua Aretz, was arrested and charged with murder, but was released on bond. Not even a year later on August 9, 2015, Ms. Mercado would see Joshua Aretz's picture again on the Clarksville Montomgery County Booking Log &nbsp;for murder.&nbsp;Joshua Aretz was arrested for the murder of a United States soldier,&nbsp;Liperial &ldquo;Savon&rdquo; Easterling.&nbsp;He was&nbsp;charged with first degree murder, felony murder, and aggravated robbery. His bond was set at $500,000.</p><p>Why was a man who took not one, but two lives in under a year, while on bond for the murder of Adam offered bond at all? According to court documents, Joshua Aretz had been violating the conditions of his release not limited to the removal of his monitoring device. Why wasn't he arrested as soon as the first violation occurred? The family of Adam Marquez was told that the court systems were handling it, it would just take a few weeks to get everything processed. Unfortunately, &nbsp;Savon Easterling didn't have a "few weeks".</p><p>Clinton Hunter III was also connected in the murders mentioned above. Not only that, he was charged with pointing a gun at Adam Marquez's mother while he was out on bond.</p><p>The Leaf Chronicle stated "Marquez's mother was in a vehicle traveling on Athletic Boulevard along with a man who is a witness in the homicide case and her two young children.</p><p>The two adults told police that a Lincoln&nbsp;being driven by an unknown female pulled up in a lane to their left and Hunter raised a handgun and pointed it at their vehicle, according to the arrest warrant.</p><p>The man with Marquez's mother yelled for everyone to duck because he believed Hunter was going to fire at them, the warrant says."&nbsp;</p><p>We are proposing a change or new law preventing alleged murderers out on bond from being eligible for bond again after any violation of their release, no matter how small the violation is.</p><p>We do not feel like the current process keeps us safe and we will do everything we can to try to prevent the violence in our community. Especially at the hands of those who have already been convicted of murder and other violent crimes.</p>