Bail was reduced for the slaying suspect because he always showed up to court

Amaral Montrond, accused of killing his ex-girlfriend last week, wasn't a flight risk and had strong ties to the community - all factors when a judge cut his bail from $1 million to $50,000 five months ago, his lawyer said Monday.

"From my perspective, the $50,000 was still a considerable amount of bail," David Sorrenti, Montrond's attorney, said. "The reality is that most people don't make $50,000 cash bail."

Bail, Sorrenti said, is set to guarantee someone will show up to court - something his client did.

"Sometimes he would be there before me," Sorrenti said.

Montrond's father, Jose, posted the $50,000 bail needed to free his son after remortgaging the house, Sorrenti said.

Montrond, 29, had been freed on that bail when he was arrested last Thursday in the shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, Carlita "T.T." Chaney, 27, at his family's Montauk Road home.

Montrond was awaiting trial at the time on charges stemming from a shooting near a downtown bar last Labor Day weekend. He is accused of shooting and wounding three people in that case.

He was arrested in South Carolina, where police tracked him down a month later, and was returned to Massachusetts. At the time, a district court judge set bail at $1 million and when the case was moved to Superior Court after Montrond was indicted, Judge Jeffrey Locke also set the same bail.

But when Sorrenti asked the court to review and reduce the bail in March, Locke reduced the amount to $50,000.

Sorrenti noted that was the same bail set for a co-defendant in the case.

Montrond is now undergoing a psychiatric evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital to see if he is competent to stand trial after his arrest on murder charges Thursday.

He is accused of killing Chaney, of South Carolina, the mother of two of his children, at his parents' 24 Montauk Road home.

Montrond told relatives the shooting was an accident, but the victim's sister said he called Chaney a "snitch" and repeatedly threatened to kill her.

A prosecutor told the court during Montrond's arraignment that Chaney had told authorities that Montrond was in South Carolina when he was on the lam last year.

Chaney, at the time of her slaying, had brought the children to stay with their paternal grandparents and father for a visit. Her sister told police she planned to leave for South Carolina the next day.

Maureen Boyle of The Enterprise (Brockton, Mass.) can be reached at mboyle@enterprisenews.com.