Bond was denied Thursday, April 14 for an Augusta woman accused of shooting a neighbor to death after an argument over a parking space.
Sarah Preddy, 25, was charged with murder after the March 24 fatal shooting of 60-year-old Shirley Bush.
During the Richmond County Superior Court bond hearing, the victim’s son told the judge that he arrived at his mother’s after work that evening to find her dead on the ground in front of her apartment.
“I just want to make sure the rest of my family is safe,” M. Brandon Bush told the judge in asked for bond to be denied. His sister was a witness to their mother’s death.
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Assistant District Attorney Kevin Davis said that it was just before 6:30 p.m. that night when Preddy called 911 and said she didn’t mean to kill the victim. It started when Preddy’s boyfriend parked his truck in front of the victim’s apartment and Bush and her daughter asked him to move it, Davis said. The victim and her daughter had turned to leave when Preddy came outside with a gun and escalated the argument, Davis said.
Bush was shot once in the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Defense attorney Patrick Berkshire asked Judge John Flythe to grant Preddy bond. She was born in Augusta, is raising her 2-year-old daughter and working steady. Preddy has no criminal history, and she was the one who called 911, Berkshire said.
Flythe denied bond.
Sandy Hodson is a staff reporter covering courts for The Augusta Press. Reach her at sandy@theaugustapress.com.
