Two deadly shootings put Montgomery’s bond system under scrutiny
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) — Two deadly shootings involving suspects who police say were already out on bond are raising questions about whether Alabama’s current system is doing enough to protect the public.
The cases come as Montgomery police and city leaders call for tougher measures for people accused of violent crimes. Recent changes to Alabama’s Aniah’s Law could give prosecutors another tool to seek no-bond holds in certain cases.
Montgomery Police Chief James Graboys said bond decisions can have a direct impact on public safety.
“The public has to start having these conversations with the individuals who can actually utilize the bonding laws to make sure that violent offenders are held accountable and not being so quickly released back into the public to reoffend while they’re waiting for their trial on the first charge,” Graboys said.
The debate comes after two separate cases this week.
Police arrested 20-year-old Tarus Giles Jr. and charged him with killing two women Monday. Twenty-five-year-old Undrea Willis and 19-year-old Nalyn Reeves were found dead in the Gibbs Village public housing community.
Giles was already out on bond on a third-degree burglary charge from January, police said. He is now charged with four counts of capital murder and is being held without bond.
In a separate case, 19-year-old William Wingard was out on an $80,000 bond when police say he was involved in another deadly shooting.
Wingard is accused of shooting at a gas station on Atlanta Highway in July 2025. Police say Wingard and a juvenile shot and killed 62-year-old Alan Griffin on July 27, 2026 in the 500 block of Woodbrook Drive.
As of Friday morning, Wingard remained on the run. CrimeStoppers is offering a $2,500 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed recently said, “We have to make sure that we are more stern in our city about those who commit violent acts, in particular those that have a track record of doing so.”
The Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office has filed paperwork seeking to revoke Wingard’s bond once he is caught.
Prosecutors also say recent changes to Alabama’s Aniah’s Law could give them another option in certain cases.
The Alabama Legislature added attempted murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied building to the offenses eligible for prosecutors to request that a defendant be held without bond.
Michele Davidson, chief deputy district attorney for Montgomery County, said prosecutors can request that certain defendants be held on cash bonds. But judges make the ultimate decision.
“We can ask for the bond to be cash. Sometimes that’s one of the reasons we do that because it may take longer for someone to be able to make that bail, and that protects the public a little bit longer,” Davidson said. “But at the end of the day, judges have discretion. We advocate for certain things, and we have parameters, and they have parameters. So those things are always going to exist to some extent.”
Davidson said the expansion of Aniah’s Law is particularly important as Montgomery continues to deal with shootings involving people firing from vehicles.
“We have a huge problem with what I’ll call a drive-by shooting,” Davidson said. “People shoot from their vehicles. There are hard cases to prove, they’re hard cases to make, and they keep happening.”
She said adding those offenses to Aniah’s Law gives prosecutors the ability to ask a judge to hold a defendant without bail in qualifying cases.
But the law does not automatically mean a defendant will be held without bond. It gives prosecutors the ability to make the request in cases that meet the law’s requirements.
Meanwhile, law enforcement continue to search for Wingard.
Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (334) 215-STOP.
