Richard released on bond after state withdraws revocation

A man charged with murder, held in Coffee County Jail on bond revocation charges, got some good news Monday.

At a bond revocation hearing before Circuit Judge Shannon Clark Monday, Aug. 8, 12th Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Josh Wilson told the court that the state withdrew the bond revocation charges against Joshua Mark Richard.

Richard was released on bond the next day from the Coffee County Jail where he has remained since his Dec. 23, 2015 arrest, charged with homicide.

Wilson did not cite a reason for the state’s decision in court but Clark explained to Richard that the charge withdrawal meant that he was eligible to be released on the $150,000 bond set previously in connection with the shooting death of Joey Chandler.

Following court, Wilson said that the withdrawal of the motion to revoke probation should not be misinterpreted. “We fully intend to prosecute (Richard) for the murder of Joey Chandler and we believe we have a strong case against him,” Wilson said. “We had our reasons for withdrawing the motion.”

Richard, 33, was arrested Dec. 23, 2015, and charged with homicide in connection with Chandler’s death. He had been sought by law enforcement authorities since the previous day when a person called local law enforcement around 1:30 p.m. after finding a body slumped over in a vehicle at the Coffee County Stockyard on County Road 248.

The vehicle was described as a small, burgundy Ford car. It was not the victim's vehicle, though it was not a stolen vehicle, New Brockton Police Chief Brian Lusher said at the time.

Three other vehicles, one pickup, one SUV and one car, were also been brought in for processing.

Chandler had died execution style from a single gunshot wound to the head, Coffee County Chief Deputy Ronnie Whitworth said at the time.

Whitworth said that the shooting happened at the stockyard. The victim's body was not moved there. The homicide has no relation to the site, according to Lusher.

The wound suggested a small-caliber weapon but a weapon had not been recovered.

According to Whitworth, it appears as if the suspect and victim knew each other, but were not friends. No motive for the homicide had been determined at the time.