BATON ROUGE — A Louisiana man who fatally shot an unarmed panhandler was released from jail on bond Thursday, a week after his arrest and public outcry over the shooting.
Jace Boyd, 24, posted $300,000 bond and was released Thursday, news outlets reported.
Boyd, who is white, was arrested Aug. 27 and charged with second-degree murder in the death of 61-year-old Danny Buckley, a Black man.
An arrest warrant said Buckley was panhandling in the Trader Joe’s parking lot at an upscale shopping center when he approached Boyd’s car to ask for money.
Baton Rouge police said the pair got into a “verbal dispute,” which escalated after Buckley walked away to ask a woman for money.
Police said Boyd yelled at Buckley to “leave people alone because he was scaring them.” When Buckley turned to Boyd, Boyd reached into his car for his gun.
The warrant said Boyd fired at Buckley, but the gun misfired. Boyd reloaded the gun, put a new bullet in the chamber and shot Buckley in the abdomen, the warrant continued.
Boyd called police and admitted to shooting Buckley, but he was not arrested because he told police it was self-defense.
Boyd was arrested a few days later after East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome asked for “a fair and transparent review of what happened.”
Attorneys for Buckley’s family said the shooting constitutes a hate crime. They also asked whether police would have handled the case differently if the races were reversed.
It’s unclear whether Boyd had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
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