Bond set at $30,000 for woman accused of murder

A 35-year-old woman accused of slaying a Spartanburg man inside a Sharon Drive home in the southern portion of Cherokee County on Oct. 5 was given an opportunity to get out of jail following a bond hearing Wednesday.

Circuit Court Judge Paul Burch, presiding in Cherokee County General Sessions Court, set bond for Wanda Brown at $30,000 following a lengthy hearing during which several members of the slain man's family pleaded with the judge to keep her in jail.

Brown is accused of murder in the Oct. 5 shooting of 53-year-old Richard Bryant, of Safeway Avenue, Spartanburg, inside her Sharon Drive home.

Defense Attorney Don Thompson told Judge Burch that Brown and Bryant had been an off-and-on couple. The morning of the shooting, he relayed on Brown's behalf, a physical altercation erupted when Bryant allegedly made a call to have someone deliver drugs to Brown's home. "She told him he could not do that," Thompson said, adding that an argument then led to Bryant allegedly punching and kicking her.

Later, when someone knocked at the door, Thompson said another argument erupted because Brown thought the person at the door was delivering drugs. She told Bryant to leave and he allegedly struck her again, knocking her down, Thompson told the court.

Brown then picked up a nearby rifle and fired a shot, striking Bryant.

Thompson argued Brown never resided outside of South Carolina and did not represent a risk of flight.

Assistant Solicitor Kim Leskanic, who argued against bond, said in court there was evidence the altercation between Bryant and Brown had ended before she picked up the rifle and that any threat to her had passed by the time the shot was fired.

"My father was a good person," Bryant's daughter told the judge. "My grandma had to bury her son because of (Brown)."

Bryant's mother implored the court not to give Brown a chance to hurt someone else by letting her out.

"Every man has faults," brother Jimmy Bryant told the court when given an opportunity. "He didn't deserve this."

Attorney Alex Smith, who spoke on Brown's behalf, said he had seen Brown with injuries from beatings in the past. "By whom, I don't know," he told the court.

Attorney Thompson noted that Brown had several knots on her head after she was arrested and taken to the Cherokee County Detention Center after the Oct. 5 shooting.

In setting Brown's bond at $30,000, the judge also imposed a 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew if and when she gets out.

Brown remained incarcerated as of late Thursday, according to jail records.