DALTON, Ga. - The 15-year-old accused of killing his grandmother has been granted a $50,000 bond.
The terms of the release were agreed to Monday night, and on Tuesday, Whitfield County Superior Court Judge Robert B. Adams signed off on the bond.
Joshua Jaran Johnson was arrested last week and charged with one count of murder. Because he is more than 14 years old and charged with murder, he will be prosecuted as an adult.
His family members, gathered outside the courtroom Tuesday, said the bond was a relief.
"I feel dang good about it," said Robert Johnson Sr., the teen's grandfather. "It's been a long time since I've hugged my grandson."
Johnson hasn't slept in his own bed since being arrested Oct. 1 for the murder of his live-in grandmother, 57-year-old Lorraine Frazier.
Sheriff's deputies allege the teen strangled Frazier with a cord, but his family maintains that Johnson simply came home from school to find the grandmother lifeless on the bathroom floor.
For complete details, read tomorrow's Chattanooga Times Free Press.