Tennessee teenagers charged with shooting 15-year-old in the head are released without bond after Democrat DA overhauled the bail system in Memphis
Two Tennessee teens have been released without bond after being accused of shooting a 15-year-old in the head because of the county’s new “progressive” bail system.
Edio White, 18, and Conner Tucker, 15, drove to 15-year-old Anthony Mason’s home in Memphis on Thanksgiving Day.
The pair attempted to use a staged gun deal to rob Mason, who left his home that morning and engaged in conversation with two people in a vehicle.
According to police, when the deal fell through, the teens began to struggle over the gun, with Tucker pointing a gun outside the car and shooting Mason in the head.
Mason immediately collapsed as Tucker and White, acting as a breakaway drive, pulled away.
Two Tennessee teens, including 18-year-old Edio White (pictured), have been released without bail after being accused of shooting a 15-year-old in the head due to the county’s new “progressive” bail system.
Text messages in Mason’s phone led investigators to Tucker, who admitted to the crime and then identified White.
According to Fox 13White admitted that he drove the car knowing Tucker intended to rob Mason.
The two have since been arrested and charged with first-degree murder, attempted aggravated robbery and unlawful possession of a weapon.
White was released on his own recognizance, which has sparked outrage.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulloy, a Democrat, approved a new bail system in 2022, giving people hearings with counsel within 72 hours of arrest.
Mulloy said the changes were intended to reform a system that was “tougher on the poor and harder on minorities.”
“This is an attempt to solve that,” he said Local Memphis.
“Under the old system, a court commissioner would make a decision on bail, and it was often unaffordable, and then people would languish behind bars.”
Edio White, 18, and Conner Tucker, 15, drove to the home of 15-year-old Anthony Mason (pictured) in Memphis on Thanksgiving Day
The pair attempted to use a staged gun deal to rob Mason, who left his home that morning and engaged in conversation with two people in a vehicle. According to police, when the deal fell through, the teens began struggling over the gun, with Tucker pointing a gun outside the car and shooting Mason in the head.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulloy, a Democrat, approved a new bail system in 2022, giving people hearings with counsel within 72 hours of arrest
Mulloy said the changes were intended to reform a system that is “tougher on the poor, and harder on minorities.”
According to Fox 13, both White’s attorney and the district attorney’s office still recommended bail at $75,000, but Judge Bill Anderson recommended White be released on his own recognizance.
The Shelby County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that ‘the judge has made the ROR decision (released upon recognition).’
Senator Marsha Blackburn, a Republican, lashed out at the decision on X.
“After fatally shooting a 15-year-old in the head, the Memphis man responsible for his death has been released,” she wrote. “He didn’t even have to post bail.”
Criminals belong behind bars. NOT on the street.
Anderson – who oversees the judicial commissioners who set bail – has strongly defended the new system in the past.
“Everyone has the right to bail,” he said Action news 5 in August. “You can’t lock people up and throw away the key, that’s just not possible.”
‘As much as the public would like that, we cannot do that. We don’t have the space. We don’t have the people to police that, and it’s unconstitutional.”
According to Fox 13, both White’s attorney and the district attorney’s office still recommended bail at $75,000, but Judge Bill Anderson (pictured) recommended that White be released on his own recognizance.
Senator Brent Taylor, a Republican, is calling for a legislative investigation into Anderson’s decision in the case
Just a week earlier, Anderson let the suspect make a hit and run in which a 20-year-old on bail was killed.
“I’m a taxpayer too, just like you are a taxpayer,” Anderson said, “I’m fed up with the crime problem in this city, exhausted, sick and tired.”
‘But putting people in jail, locking them up and throwing away the key is not the solution. “If we get sued by the ACLU for not doing what we agreed to do, it’s going to cost the people of Shelby County a lot of money because the ACLU will win.”
Anderson has yet to comment on his decision to release White on his own recognizance.
Senator Brent Taylor, a Republican, is calling for a legislative investigation into Anderson’s decision in the case.
“The fact that the judge then released this defendant, who wanted to be charged with first-degree murder, and released him on his own recognizance, absolutely angered me,” he said.
“And it’s not just the fact that Judge Anderson’s hostility to the bail system, I think, influences his decisions. But the fact that he is above the judicial commissioners also sends a signal to the judicial commissioners and influences the judicial commissioners to set a low bond. So this whole situation needs to be looked at.”
White’s next hearing is scheduled for December 5.