By Fred Guarino
The Lowndes Signal

HAYNEVILLE — Triple-murder suspect Deandra Marquis Lee, 22, is being held in the Lowndes County Jail on a $3 million cash bond following an initial appearance before Lowndes County District Court Judge Adrian D. Johnson Monday.

Johnson also appointed Hayneville attorney Jerry Thornton to represent Lee.

Lowndes County District Attorney Charlotte Tesmer asked for a $1 million cash bond for each case.

Thornton, who called the $3 million bond “outrageously high,” said he would address that at a bond hearing at a later time.

“We believe he’s a great flight risk,” Tesmer said.

Lee is accused of killing three people in Lowndes County, including 9-year-old twins, Jordan and Taylor Dejerinett and their 73-year-old caretaker, Jack Mac Girdner. The three had been reported missing Monday and their bodies were discovered Tuesday.

Lee was later declared a suspect in the murders and captured Saturday morning in Selma after a four-day manhunt.

Johnson said there is a motion to revoke a pending $10,000 bond in Lowndes County on which Lee was out of jail on a robbery third degree charge. He said the hearing for that will be held June 19.

Lee was read the three murder charges filed against him by Johnson, who said he did not expect a preliminary hearing for Lee to be set before July. He said if Lee is later indicted by a grand jury, the charge could be upped to capital murder.

“He’s not guilty until the state proves him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” Thornton said following the court appearance.

Mary Ann Bracy Ford said she and her sister live off Alabama Highway 21 near where the bodies of the three victims were discovered.

“We were very concerned. We got a phone call that bodies may have been found near where we live …,” Ford said. “Justice needs to be served. This young man needs to pay for what he did.”