Bond reduced for man charged in pellet gun shootings in Holly Springs
A judge on Monday drastically reduced the bond for a man charged in a series of pellet gun shootings in Holly Springs.
Henderson Atwater, 47, has been in the Wake County jail for 1,040 days under a $1.5 million bond, maintaining his innocence throughout. With a new bond of $100,000, he could be released within days.
Atwater's case dates back to March of 2020, when the first pellet gun shootings were reported in his hometown of Holly Springs.
On Monday, Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway reduced Atwater's bond to $100,000 with electronic monitoring. Atwater was in tears Monday as the judge made the announcement.
Attorneys for Atwater said during the three years he has been imprisoned his mother and son have died and he has developed diabetes.
Atwater's family members said his reduced bond is "a relief" and long overdue, especially after a mistrial in August, when a jury ruled the state's evidence against Atwater insufficient and circumstantial.
"Right now we are going to celebrate, because he is going to be home for Christmas," said family members, who plan to raise money to cover Atwater's bond.
Atwater was arrested in 2021 on more than 44 charges of a series of pellet gun shootings that occurred in 2020 and 2021 in Holly Springs. The shootings were drive-by shootings, and no one was killed.
He went on trial in August for 17 of those charges, but that trial ended in a mistrial after prosecutors were not able to convince all 12 jurors that Atwater was guilty due to insufficient evidence.
Atwater has remained behind bars for 20 similar pending charges not included in that trial. On Monday, his attorneys spent 20 minutes working to convince the judge that the evidence in the case is lacking, pushing for Atwater's release.
"The evidence is clearly not sufficient," Atwater's attorney, Chad Axford, stated. "It's a situation that is mind boggling ... everything that began this case was a video that was ultimately destroyed."
The state, however, stands by their evidence against Atwater, vowing to try him again on the same 17 charges.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said prosecutors intend to move forward with a new trial against Atwater in February. Prosecutors, arguing in favor of the high bond, pointed out that Atwater has failed to appear in court 24 times in the past and may be a flight risk.
Freeman said there are still similar pending charges against Atwater that her office will pursue. She also said the case involves many charges and several other victims that were not part of the initial trial.
"What is left now is one, a review by the State; a determination as to how and when to move forward with the cases that did go before the jury, and the additional charges that were not part of that trial, that can also be tried at a later date," Freeman said.
Freeman said the office talked with jurors to determine next steps.
"There were, I think, originally 40 different cases," Freeman said. "Those are the same types of charges that remain as what were previously joined together for the purposes of this trial."
