The Selma Times-Journal

The 17-year-old suspect in a March 15 Miller Funeral Home shooting filed for youthful offender status Monday.

Greg Tolar, the defendant’s lawyer in the case, also filed for a reinstatement of his bond and a reduction in the bond.

The suspect in the case had his bond revoked in an earlier hearing, after he was charged in connection with other crimes.

His original bond was $250,000.

Tolar, according to prosecutors, didn’t specify the amount he was asking for.

Judge Thomas Jones, Fourth Judicial Circuit Judge, said he would take the case under advisement.

Tolar said he had no comment about the case.

“Not at this time,” he said.

The defendant was arrested in March in relation to a shooting outside of Miller Funeral Home on St. Phillips Street.

The defendant was allegedly in a shootout with another youth, a 16-year-old, outside the funeral home, when Carlandra Johnson, a Birmingham resident, walked out of the funeral home and was shot in the left arm.

The 29 year old victim was in town making funeral arrangements for her mother, Dorothy Johnson.

Police said she wasn’t a target in the shooting.

“She was just a bystander that was shot,” Selma Police Chief Jimmy Martin said shortly after the shooting.

The suspect in the case is being charged with at least one count of first-degree assault in the case.

The 17-year-old was out on bond for the Broad Street shooting when the funeral home shooting occurred, resulting in his bond revocation.

He is being charged as an adult in the Broad Street case, prosecutors said.

Michael Jackson, district attorney, said his office opposes all of the requests from the defense.

“I believe the citizens of Selma and Dallas County feel a lot safer knowing this gunslinger is locked up,” he said. “We will continue to be opposed to any kind of bond for this defendant.”