The Grady High School student who accidentally shot herself in the thigh Wednesday went before a magistrate for the third time in two days late Friday morning, this time on four new felony charges in connection with a hit-and-run incident last October.
Morgan Tukes, who was granted bond Thursday in the shooting incident, spent another night in jail before an 11 a.m. hearing in front of Magistrate Judge Roy Roberts.
Fulton County sheriff’s spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan said Friday that four new charges — all felonies — had been filed against Tukes: aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, obstruction, fleeing and attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, and reckless driving.
According to a police report obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the hit-and-run took place in the parking lot of a McDonald’s on Ponce De Leon Avenue last October. The report said someone in a black Ford Explorer struck a city vehicle and fled.
The report said the driver, allegedly Tukes, refused to stop when instructed to do so by a Fulton County sheriff’s deputy who was working at the location.
On Thursday, Magistrate Judge Jessy Lall set bond at $41,000 for Tukes, 17, in connection with Wednesday’s incident at Grady High. She is charged with a felony — possession of a pistol by a minor — and three misdemeanors: carrying a weapon within a school safety zone, reckless conduct and disruption of a public school.
During Friday’s hearing on the new felony charges, Roberts set additional bond for Tukes at $40,000. After being told by her public defender that Tukes is an honor student and athlete who resides with her parents, Roberts said her parents could use a signature bond to post the bail.
In a separate hearing earlier Friday morning, bond was set at $3,000 on a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge that was filed after Thursday’s hearing.
Tukes, wearing blue prison garb and handcuffs, fidgeted nervously while waiting for Friday’s second hearing to begin, occasionally glancing over her shoulder at her parents, who were in the back of the small jail courtroom.
Her parents had little to say to reporters after the hearing.
“God is good, that’s all we’ve got to say,” a family member told reporters.
Judge Bond ordered Tukes to stay 100 yards away from the Grady High campus, prohibited her from possessing a firearm and forbid firearms in the house where she’s staying. Judge Roberts on Friday added another stipulation: that she is forbidden from driving a vehicle while out on bond.
A preliminary hearing for Tukes was set for March 14 in Fulton Superior Court.
Grady High officials learned of the shooting when Tukes walked into the school clinic, bleeding, around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Atlanta City School Superintendent Erroll Davis said the girl was late for class and was let into the Midtown school’s gymnasium by two other students.
Davis said Tukes told administrators she did not pass through the school’s metal detectors with the weapon — a pink .380-caliber handgun..
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