Brayden Logan Thomas, 18, Greenfield
HANCOCK COUNTY — Following a bail review hearing for a county teenager who is accused of shooting another teenager this past summer, a county judge decided to lower a cash bond and will allow the teenager to be put on home detention until his case is settled.
The decision comes at the objection of officials from the Hancock County Prosecutor’s office and the victim’s family, who asked the court to keep the bond at $25,000 cash after the court had set the bond when the case was officially moved from juvenile to adult court in mid-February.
Brayden Logan Thomas, 18, Greenfield, has been accused of a Level 3 felony count of aggravated battery use when the assault poses a substantial risk of death; a Level 5 felony count of alteration of firearm’s identifying marks and a Class A misdemeanor count of dangerous possession of a firearm.
The bail review hearing was held late last week, Thursday, Feb. 22 in Hancock County Circuit Court and was overseen by Judge Scott Sirk.
Prosecutor Brent Eaton, who got the court to move the crimes against the teenager to adult court prior, asked Sirk to keep the bail bond at $25,000 cash. However, Thomas’s attorney, Robert Elsea, Greenfield, asked the court for a $5,000 cash bond and to allow his client to released on home detention rather than remain at a juvenile facility in Pendleton until the case is settled.
During the bail review hearing, Eaton called to the stand relatives of the victim who live out of state and spoke to the court via Zoom. The victim’s relatives told the court they did not feel comfortable for family members living in Indiana should Thomas be released and stated they actually feared for them.
“If he’s capable of doing what he did to my son then he is capable of doing anything to others,” the victim’s mother told the court.
Another relative of the victim spoke and told the court that Thomas was able to track him down, finding his address, and that he too feared for other family members of the victim should Thomas be able to leave a lock-up facility.
Elsea told a different story and called Thomas’ mother to the stand who testified she planned to take Thomas out of Greenfield, where the shooting occurred in August of 2023 and planned to stay with him at a home in New Palestine until his case was settled.
Elsea noted his client has been a good and productive inmate while staying at a juvenile facility in Pendleton while officials determined if the teenager, who just turned 18 this month, should be charged as an adult or juvenile.
“He has a very strong case for self defense,” Elsea said, pointing out his client was at his home when the victim, an area teenager, approached his house and was shot by Thomas in the stomach.
Eaton, however, told the court he had real concerns about Thomas who has a troubled past, including violating terms of previous cases he’s had as a juvenile. Eaton also noted Thomas made real threats to the victim via social media telling the victim he was going to “finish” him.
“There is no better predictor of future behavior than past behavior,” Eaton said. “In the strongest terms, we would object to any modification.”
Elsea told the court his client is not a flight risk and would appear for all his courtroom meetings if the court would allow him to get a lesser bond and be placed on home detention. He also accused the prosecutor of “grand standing” after Eaton said he did not want Thomas out and is trying to stop bloodshed from happening on county streets.
Elsea admitted his client is a misguided and disrespectful youth who has not been on a good path, but feels Thomas has truly turned a corner over the last six months while being held at the juvenile facility.
In the end, Sirk lowered the cash bond from $25,000 to $7,500 and agreed to place Thomas on home detention. The judge also noted a “no contact” order for the victim and his family would remain in place.
Thomas is due back in court for a pretrial conference Thursday, May 16.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Thomas stated he had been exchanging text messages with the victim when he saw a vehicle pull up to his residence on Aug. 6. 2023. Thomas told officials he saw the victim approach the front door with his fists balled up and he began banging on the door. Thomas told officials he did not see the victim with any weapons but grabbed a gun from the kitchen counter and aimed it at the center of the door, pulled the trigger, and shot the victim through the front door.
Officials noted in their report, surgery was required to save the victim who had approximately four feet of his intestine removed due to the damage caused by the gunshot wound.
