Arson suspect’s pre-trial bond hearing pushed back after issue contacting attorney

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - An arson suspect, Christian King, will need to return to court to discuss a pre-trial bail amount.

King appeared in court Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 18) before 19th Judicial District Court Commissioner Nicole Robinson.

She disclosed that King had been in court the day before for an initial appearance and was told to contact his attorney, Colette Greggs, when he returned to jail.

King told Robinson that the jail denied him access to a phone but a spokeswoman for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office said the log showed King used the phone at 3:38 p.m., right after his bond hearing.

The hearing has been reset to take place 9 a.m. Friday.

Prosecutor Kendall Thomas appeared in court on behalf of the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Office.

District attorney Hillar Moore previously told WAFB that his office would seek to have King held in jail until a trial because he poses a danger to his ex-girlfriend, Breanna Jones, after alleged repeat harassment.

Jones alleges that King slashed the tires on her car, threatened her family members and later set her home on fire on Southmoor Drive.

The pair have a six-month-old daughter together.

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• I-TEAM: DA wants man held in jail after arson arrest

The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Office requested King be held in jail and in an interview with the WAFB I-TEAM, District Attorney Hillar Moore said that is the only reasonable path forward in the case.

“You have a house being set on fire on video. I think this is a serious public safety threat,” Moore said. “I think that the only appropriate bond condition can be that he be held pending a trial in this matter.”

King is accused of several criminal acts, including violating a protective order filed by Jones. She says he came to her home in Baton Rouge on several different days earlier this month, including on the day of the fire.

An effort to revoke King’s bond for an unrelated crime in New Orleans is also underway.

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