Michael Shavers
General Sessions Court Judge Lila Statom on Friday raised the bond to $1 million in the case in which Michael W. Shavers is charged with shooting his former girlfriend and her new boyfriend outside a Waffle House in Lookout Valley.
She said it was likely that Shavers would be found guilty after hearing testimony from the two victims and from a police investigator who took a statement from the defendant.
Investigator Ken Willoughby said Shavers admitted firing eight shots at the couple - both of whom were hit in the barrage of bullets.
He said Shavers stated that he became angry after Ashley Harris first told him she was pregnant, then said she was not. Shavers said he obtained a handgun two weeks prior to the ambush.
Judge Statom set bond at $500,000 each on two attempted first-degree murder charges. A magistrate set the total bond at $950,000.
The judge called Shavers "a danger to our community."
She also said he was a danger to flee, noting that he was caught in a cave near Trenton, Ga.
Judge Statom said, "I sometimes hear that domestic violence is not a major problem. Domestic violence is a major problem."
Ms. Harris, who earlier told police that Shavers sent her a photo of himself holding a single bullet, had to be seated in a chair due to injuries to her side when she came to court for the first part of the hearing on Thursday. The bullet that caused multiple injuries to her abdomen, including leaving bone fragments, traveled on into the knee of Joshua Maples.
Ms. Harris said Shavers had contacted her every day by Facebook or text message for the two months since they broke up.
She said they dated for over a year prior to the break-up.
She said in one message he said he was going to "kill everybody," and he told her she needed to "make peace with ur maker."
Ms. Harris said she blocked Shavers on social media sites. She said he then called her and said she had better watch her back.
Last Wednesday, Ms. Harris said she went to the Waffle House at 3805 Cummings Highway with her new boyfriend. She said while they were there she received a phone call from Jacob Allison, younger brother of Shavers. She said she still talks with the brother so she did not think anything of telling him where she was.
Allison, though he is a juvenile, is among those charged in a triple murder in Lookout Valley.
Ms. Harris said as they pulled onto Cummings Highway that Shavers came out of the woods and started firing a gun at them. She was hit in the hip and the stomach, and the new boyfriend was hit in the knee.
Ms. Harris said it was definitely Shavers firing the gun. Joshua Maples said he was focused on driving and did not see who shot them.
The shooter then ran back into the woods, and Joshua Maples drove to Erlanger Hospital.
Ms. Harris said she is "very scared of Shavers" and she is afraid that he is going to kill her.
Joshua Maples said his vehicle had two shots in the door, one in the side of the truck bed and two in the front fender. The shots were on the passenger side.
He said one shot went just above their heads and landed just above the crease where the door closes.