James Johnson Jr.

An Athens man accused of severely beating his girlfriend, beating and threatening to kill her 2-year-old daughter, and forcing them both to stay all day in a shed is now free on bond until his trial.

James Lynn Johnson Jr., 28, of 1412 N. Houston St., was released sometime Thursday from the Limestone County Jail after a local bail bonding company posted a $25,000 bond to secure his release.

Johnson had been jailed since his initial arrest by Athens Police in May 2015.

A May 1 trial date is schedule for Johnson in Limestone County Circuit Court. A plea docket is set for April 19, at which time Johnson could plead guilty to lesser charges in exchange for a lesser sentence, if he chooses.

The Limestone County District Attorney’s Office obtained a six-count indictment against Johnson on July 12, 2015, just two months after his arrest. The charges include two counts each of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree domestic violence, both Class A felonies; and one count each of domestic violence strangulation/suffocation and aggravated child abuse, both Class B felonies.

If convicted on first-degree kidnapping alone, Johnson is facing a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 99 years in prison, according to Alabama law.

Johnson’s attorney had initially asked a Limestone County judge to lower his client’s $60,000 bail on the kidnapping charge because his family could not afford the full bond amount. The court agreed to reduce bail to $25,000. Johnson, however, also had a $5,000 total bail set on two unrelated burglary charges from June 2014 that were still pending resolution in court.

The attorney and the state, represented by the Limestone County District Attorney’s Office, agreed to the consolidation of the bonds from the kidnapping and burglary charges to a total of $25,000, and the court approved it.

People accused of crimes are considered innocent until proven guilty, therefore they have the right to a reasonable bail. The purpose of bail is merely to ensure the defendant’s appearance in court. It is not intended to be a punishment.

The alleged crimes

The abuse charges relate to an alleged attack on Johnson’s girlfriend and her 2-year-old child from May 17-19, 2015.

The girlfriend said Johnson came to her home at Woodridge Apartments on May 17, accused her of having an affair and began beating her with his hands, a wrench, a screwdriver and a necklace, Police Chief Floyd Johnson said at the time of Johnson’s arrest.

She said Johnson also cut her and stabbed her with a screwdriver. She said Johnson forced her to take three Xanax pills. She said she did not know what Johnson did to her daughter but she could hear her child screaming from a separate room. She also told officers the child was forced to stay in a closet.

On the morning of May 19, she said Johnson forced her and her child to leave the apartment and walk with him to North Houston Street. There, she said he forced her to stay in an outside storage shed by threatening to kill her daughter if she left or contacted police. About 11 that night, she looked out the shed and saw a house with a light on, so she left the shed and went to the house to ask for help.

She asked the occupant not to call the police due to Johnson’s threats to kill her daughter. The resident called 911 and reported the incident. Police arrived to find both victims severely beaten, the chief said.

“The older victim had bruises all over her body and her eyes were both black and almost swollen shut,” the chief said. “Her daughter had multiple bruises on her face and her face was swollen.”

Police arrested Johnson that night.

“The child in this case has a possible skull fracture, a broken arm and multiple bruises on her face and body,” the chief said a day after Johnson’s arrest. “The mother has multiple bruises all over her body, cuts and puncture marks.”