Judge postpones double homicide suspect’s bond hearing

12th Circuit Court Judge Ralph King Anderson Jr. postponed a bond hearing Monday until November for a man accused of participating in a double slaying case.

Fonnelze Travis Delaine, 26, of 2045 Belhaven Drive, Darlington, is charged with being an accessory before the fact of a murder, according to Florence County Sheriff’s Office reports. He is pleading not guilty.

Two Florence men also are charged in connection with the Sept. 1 shooting deaths of 32-year-old Talya Poston and 26-year-old Billy L. Hall of Florence.

Montez Myhell Barker, 25, of 1620 Pine St. Ext. and Laross Antonio Graham, 27, of 3020 Dawn St. are charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Barker also is charged with resisting arrest, Florence County Detention Center booking reports show.

Barker is accused of setting one victim’s vehicle on fire in attempt to conceal the crime and charged with third-degree arson. Although the judge set a $25,000 surety bond for Barker on Sept. 30, he will remain incarcerated because of the two counts of murder he faces in the case, Florence County Sheriff’s Capt. Mike Nunn said.

Soon after the deaths, deputies found Poston’s green Ford Explorer parked off of First Street in east Florence and burned nearly down to its frame.

Investigators say Barker set Poston’s vehicle on fire after she and Hall were slain and left on Isaiah Street, a dirt road just off of Flowers Road near Pamplico Highway.

Graham was arrested near Pine Street in Florence after deputies, acting on tips, had been searching the area for him the afternoon of Sept. 11, Nunn said. Barker was arrested that same night near Gaillard and Kershaw streets in Florence.

Both Graham and Barker have criminal records, according to State Law Enforcement Division reports.

Delaine was arrested the night of Sept. 16 off Hoffmeyer Road, near the Florence-Darlington County line, by Florence and Darlington county sheriff’s deputies, SLED agents and U.S. Marshals.

Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone previously said he thinks the slayings were drug-related. During the search for Delaine, deputies confiscated drugs, drug paraphernalia and made two drug-related arrests that aren’t linked to the deaths.

Twelfth Circuit Solicitor Ed Clements III said it is unclear whether the two lawyers who represented Delaine on drug charges will represent him in the double slaying case.

Clements also said he’s unsure whether Delaine will qualify for a court-appointed attorney.

In court previously, Clements called the killings a “witness assasination case,” and said he thought the victims may have been witnesses to another crime committed by the defendants.

Clements said if that could, in fact, be proven, the cases might rise to the standard of being death penalty cases.

Both Poston and Hall were well known in Florence and both were the children of local business owners.

The sheriff’s office is continuing its investigation of the case. All three suspects remain in custody at the jail in Effingham.