Bail denied on man accused of Murder in Floyd County
By Roberta Cantrell
BSN Editor
A circuit judge has denied a motion to reduce a $5 million bond on the man who is accused of killing Amber Spradlin.
In an order issued on Monday, Oct. 28, by Chief Regional Circuit Judge Eddy Coleman, he wrote that the bond for Michael “MK” McKinney III, 24, of Arkansas Creek Road, Martin, on the murder charge and all other charges pertaining to the June 2023 murder of Spradlin, was not considered to be excessive and would not be lowered.
Although, Coleman acknowledged in his order that, as argued by McKinney’s attorney Steve Romines, that McKinney’s pretrial assessment found no criminal history and other favorable factors, the assessment “does not account for the circumstances of this indictment,” Coleman stated in the order.
Romines argued in a hearing Thursday, Oct. 24, that some of the evidence that is holding up the trial may take up to a year to get back which means his client MK will be incarcerated all that time and will force them to call for a speedy trial if the judge does lower his bond allowing him to be home awaiting his trial. Romines assured the judge that MK would not be living in the same home as his father, who is a co-defendant in the Spradlin case and that other living arrangements had been made in such a case that MK would be released on a lowered bond.
Romines said in last week’s hearing, that although by all measures, MK McKinney should be released on his own recognizance, he was willing to accept a $500,000 cash bond or $1 million property bond as surety for the $5 million, with several provisions, including home incarceration, included.
Taking all that into consideration the judge held firm on not reducing the bond and also made the following statement in his order:
“Murder is a capital offense, the most serious classification of crime in this commonwealth, whether the death penalty is available or not,” Coleman wrote.
It is not known if Romines will go forth with the motion of a speedy trial but at this time MK does remain incarcerated until his trial.