22-year-old accused of killing woman in 2020 apartment stabbing denied bond Thursday
A man who police say killed a woman after stabbing her in the neck over a year ago in Port Royal was denied bond Thursday afternoon at the Beaufort County Courthouse.
Jonah Bookmiller, 22, of Beaufort was charged Nov. 6, 2020, with murder, attempted murder and possession of a weapon in the commission of a violent crime Nov. 1, 2020, by the Port Royal Police Department, according to previous reporting by the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Heather Simmons, 31, of Beaufort was found dead in an apartment on Nov. 1, 2020, Beaufort County Coroner David Ott told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette at the time.
Simmons was at the apartment with Christopher Kirkland on the night of the attack. Prosecutor Trasi Campbell from the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office said Bookmiller also stabbed Kirkland in the neck.
The two were “expecting” Bookmiller to come by the apartment, which he had done “a number of times” before to purchase cocaine, Campbell said. When Kirkland opened the door, Campbell said, Bookmiller allegedly stabbed and fought him before turning to Simmons. She pleaded with Bookmiller not to attack her.
Kirkland was able to escape and collapsed across the street, where bystanders applied pressure to his wounds, Campbell said. When police arrived, Campbell said, Kirkland told them that “Jonah” had stabbed him.
“Both of them (Kirkland and Simmons) were the victims of a violent, brutal knife attack,” Campbell said. “This is one of the most brutal attacks I have ever seen.”
Campbell attempted to show photos of the victims’ wounds in court, but the display was blocked by Bookmiller’s defense attorney, Courtney Gibbes. A witness told police that when they asked Bookmiller about what happened because he “clearly was in a horrific fight,” Bookmiller replied that it was meant to be a “simple robbery” and that “some people got hurt really bad,” she said.
Forensics are pending and a second individual believed to be involved in the stabbing has yet to be arrested, Campbell said.
Gibbes said she doesn’t agree with the state’s facts “by any means,” adding there’s no evidence that Kirkland said her client stabbed Simmons.
Bookmiller has “a lot of family support,” she said, and was joined in court by his grandmother, brother and a friend. He has “no prior record” and went to Battery Creek High School, where he was on the ROTC drill team, she said.
If released on bond, according to Gibbes, Bookmiller would live in Ridgeland and work with his stepfather. Since his arrest, Gibbes said, Bookmiller has completed drug and alcohol counseling.
Judge Bentley Price denied bond for Bookmiller Thursday, but said he would not make him wait six months before he could get another hearing and would reconsider his bond by April 1.
