New details about Austin murder suspect's new charge
AUSTIN, Texas - New details have been released about the charges against the suspect in the murder of an Austin man in 2021.
After confusion among law enforcement and the court system, 22-year-old Mithovar Antoine Jr. bonded out of jail, but is now back in custody.
Austin police recommended that Antoine receive no bond due to the new enhanced charge of capital murder.
Antoine was arrested in Temple on September 12 after the U.S. Marshal's Office took him into custody on a first-degree murder warrant.
He’s accused of stabbing 23-year-old Nikolas Martinez to death in July 2021.
Martinez's body was found outside a convenience store along I-35 in South Austin.
"This was a random act of violence. There's nothing to indicate that the suspect knew the victim in this case," APD police detective, Richard Spitler previously told FOX 7.
Austin police believe Antoine stabbed the victim because he wanted to steal his vehicle.
Antoine was taken to Bell County Jail the first time he was arrested. A Bell County Judge set the bond at $150,000 with no conditions, and he bonded out just four days later, despite a lengthy criminal history.
"You can't set a bond of $1 million in every case just because you don't like the defendant. That would defeat the whole Texas constitution, which says you're innocent until proven guilty. And sometimes that means that people who are accused of multiple homicides, sometimes that means that they can get out," said criminal defense lawyer, Jeremy Rosenthal.
After the first arrest, the 22-year-old suspect was expected to be extradited to the Travis County Jail.
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Because of confusion among law enforcement and the court system, APD detectives obtained a new warrant for enhanced capital murder two days after he was released in Bell County.
"The laws of the state of Texas are designed to assure public safety, and they're designed to make sure that you're not kept in jail unless or until you're convicted. And sometimes those laws aren't perfect. Sometimes they conflict, and sometimes they get messy when we find people in counties that we didn't expect to find them in," said Rosenthal.
On Tuesday, Antoine was arrested again at his home in Temple for Martinez's murder.
APD recommended that Antoine Jr receive no bond due to this being a capital murder. However, a Travis County judge set a $10 million bond for him.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the Austin Police Department.