Bond slashed for alleged cop shooter, set for killing suspect
BY JOHN MCCANN (Durham Herald Sun)
DURHAM -- Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson this week slashed the bond for a man accused of shooting and wounding a Durham police officer from $250,000 to $75,000 and approved bond terms for an accused murderer who had been held without bond.
Thomas Rashawn Monroe, 23, is charged with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. He'd been in jail under the $250,000 secured bond after allegedly wounding Officer Damon Youmans in July. Youmans had joined the police force in May.
Monroe's lawyer had been seeking to get his client's bond reduced to $20,000, but Hudson decided on $75,000. Monroe remained in jail Wednesday evening.
On Wednesday, Hudson gave accused killer Randy Tyson Bledsoe, 51, a $500,000 secured bond. He'd been jailed with no bond on a first-degree murder charge for allegedly killing his ex-wife's husband in June. Bledsoe also remained behind bars Wednesday evening.
Police believe Bledsoe kicked in a door at a West Markham Avenue residence and shot and killed 44-year-old Edward William Riddle, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Police arrested Bledsoe at his Redwood Road home about 20 minutes after officers responded to the murder scene.
Meanwhile, in the Monroe case, Youmans was among several officers who responded to a call at Monroe's address in the South Square Townhomes apartment complex on Shannon Road. As officers arrived, shots were fired from inside Monroe's apartment, one striking Youmans in the abdomen. Doctors went through more than 60 units of blood to save Youmans' life.
The incident generated support from the law-enforcement community as well as the general citizenry, many pitching in to help Youmans, a police officer in New York before coming to Durham. Youmans, 32, has still not returned to work, police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said.
