By Malynda Fulton
LAKELAND — A suspect in the Lakeland arson-murder case has been released on $500,000 bond.
Lanier County Sheriff Nick Norton said that 17-year-old Monolito Montoy Camon was released on Friday, June 26, after B & H Bonding in Valdosta satisfied all bonding requirements.
Camon was recently granted $500,000 bond in Lanier County Superior Court by Judge Dane Perkins. Alapaha Judicial Circuit District Attorney Cathy Helms had suggested that bond be set at $1 million.
Camon is charged with felony murder, malice murder, first degree arson, four counts of aggravated assault, aggravated battery and first degree criminal damage to property.
Special conditions included in his bond order require that Camon remain in Lowndes County and not leave the state, stay out of Lanier County except for on court dates, maintain passing grades in school and obtain employment when school is out, submit to consensual search and have no contact with the victim’s family or any witness for the state. Camon is also prohibited from drinking alcohol or visiting any locations where alcohol is sold.
If Camon violates any conditions of his release, he will be incarcerated in Lanier County until his case goes to trial.
The teen was arrested at Valdosta High School on March 17 for his involvement in an incident that claimed the life of 12-year-old Laquinta Bowens.
At 2:13 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 4, Lanier County emergency responders were dispatched to 807 E. Davis St. to find the residence engulfed in flames.
Glenn Allen of the Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John W. Oxendine said that the fire began after at least one home-made explosive, possibly a Molotov cocktail, was thrown into the living room, where Bowens slept on a couch. Five other occupants of the house were able to escape.
Bowens died in the fire.
Antonio “Tom” McCutchin, 20, was arrested on the same charges as Camon. Authorities also arrested McCutchin’s mother, 36-year-old Patricia Ann McCutchin, and another 16-year-old juvenile on charges of hindering law enforcement officers.
Lakeland Police Chief Robbie Grantham previously told The Times that the arson appears to have stemmed from an ongoing argument between at least one of the suspects and someone who was staying in the house.
According to Helms, bond for serious violent felonies, such as murder, can only be granted in superior court. In addition, Georgia law requires that a bond be granted if a defendant is not indicted within 90 days of his or her arrest, even if the defendant is charged with murder. Camon has yet to be indicted.
