Sisters of murdered 16-year-old speak out at bond hearing for man accused in shooting
A 32-year-old man accused in the killing of his 16-year-old girlfriend at a Ridgeland motel was denied bond Thursday morning in a hearing at the Jasper County courthouse.
Brian Jemal Redding, of Ridgeland was charged on Nov. 10, 2020, with murder and possession of a weapon in a violent crime after police accused him of fatally shooting his girlfriend, according to previous reporting by The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette. Redding also faces one count of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
On the morning of Sept. 6, 2020, Cypress Noonan, 16, of Ridgeland was found dead in a room at the Forest Motel where she and Redding had been living together. Around 9:46 a.m., Redding said he found Noonan, according to 911 calls obtained by the newspapers. She had been shot in the forehead with a 9-mm handgun, according to a S.C. Law Enforcement Division press release at the time of Redding’s arrest.
Redding was denied bond in March by Judge Carmen Mullen and again Thursday by Judge Bentley Price.
Hunter Swanson from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office argued that Redding is a danger to the community. She described the relationship between Redding and Noonan as “toxic.” Noonan was not allowed to have a passcode on her phone or open the door to the room if Redding was not present, she said. Results taken from blood found on the door both inside and outside the motel room came back as a “mixture,” matching both Redding and Noonan, she said. Noonan was making arrangements to leave Redding at the time of the shooting, Swanson said.
Redding, a father of two children, 8 and 5, needs to get out of jail so he can get back to work, his public defender, Carolyn Carmody argued at the hearing. Redding would not be a flight risk, Carmody said. He did not run the day of the shooting, she said; he called 911 and cooperated with police.
There is “no evidence” he would be a danger to the community, Carmody said. Redding acted as a “caretaker” to Noonan, she said, and “everyone” in the family “loved him until they needed someone to blame.”
The prosecutor took issue with Redding being labeled as a caretaker to Noonan because his phone had sexual footage of the minor, she said.
Two of Noonan’s five sisters, Taylor Cowherd and Raven Johnson, spoke at the hearing, pleading with Price to not allow Redding out on bond. Johnson emphasized Noonan’s age. Her voice trembled as she said her sister no longer has the opportunity to marry or have children. Cowherd told the court she did not want to worry about running into Redding on the street while with her children.
“I never thought I would be here (in a courtroom) for my 16-year-old sister,” Cowherd said. “He shouldn’t be on the streets grocery shopping like everyone else.”
If there is no trial by June 1, Price said, he would reconsider Redding’s bond.
As of Thursday afternoon, Redding remains in custody at the Jasper County Detention Center.
