A bail reduction hearing for a man accused in the bathtub scalding of two Limestone County children has been postponed until Sept. 22.

Athens attorney Garry Clem sought the postponement Tuesday in Limestone County District Court for his client, Derrick Lynn Defoe, 29, of 21038 Tillman Mill Road. District Judge Jerry Batts agreed to reschedule the bail hearing.

Defoe is charged with two counts of first-degree domestic assault and two counts of aggravated child abuse as is the children’s mother, Amanda Marie Reyer, 22, also of 21038 Tillman Mill Road.

In a request for a lower bail filed in District Court, Clem said his client’s combined bail for two first-degree domestic violence charges is set at $150,000 and combined cash bonds for two aggravated child abuse charges are set at $60,000, and that Defoe’s family does not have the means to meet such a high bail.

District Attorney Brian Jones opposes a bail reduction for Defoe, Clem said in his motion.

In seeking the postponement Tuesday, Clem said it was not clear whether his client’s case, which was waived to the grand jury, was now in district or circuit court. He also said his client could be facing additional charges within the next two weeks. Clem declined to comment on what those charges might be after the hearing. Jones said he did not know.

Case

Defoe and Reyer are accused of scalding Reyer’s two children — a girl age 2 ½ and a boy age 5 — in a bathtub at the home on June 14.

The girl suffered second- and third-degree burns over 80 percent of her body, and remained in critical condition Tuesday at Shriners Burn Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio.

“They are continuing grafting surgeries as they are able,” said Deputy Stephen Young, public information officer for the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office.

The boy, who suffered second- and third-degree burns over 30 percent of his body, has been released from University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital and is staying with a foster family. Reyer’s youngest child, an infant, is staying with a family member. Precisely what transpired the day of the scalding is not clear, and prosecutors have declined to comment.

Reyer had taken the girl to Athens-Limestone Hospital the evening of June 14 and claimed she fell into a hot tub. The report triggered an investigation, during which burns were also found on the 5-year-old.