Bond reduced for 1 of 4 in kidnap, beating case

A judge has agreed to reduce the bond for Emily Franklin, one of four young adults charged in the kidnapping and severe assault of a Columbus man. 

Franklin, who turned 18 on June 9, requested a reduction of her bond that was set at $750,000 surety or $75,000 cash. County prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay told Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge James Worton she felt that reducing the bond to no lower than $150,000 surety or $15,000 cash would be appropriate in Franklin’s case. After a few days of consideration, Worton agreed with Holden-Kay’s recommendation and lowered Franklin’s bond. 

But if Franklin is released on bond, she will have to agree to a number of pre-trial conditions to be determined by Bartholomew County Court Services, the judge said. Worton set his own conditions, ordering that Franklin could not have any type of contact with the victim or her co-defendants. That would include Ashton Fields, 18, of 762 Clifty Drive, Columbus, with whom Franklin had been living for about a month before her arrest. 

Fields and Franklin, as well as Charles Breedlove, 18, of 2017 14th St., Columbus, and Zablin “Jai” Woodruff, of 238 N. Hughes St., Columbus, are charged with Level 2 felony robbery resulting in serious bodily injury and Level 3 felony counts of kidnapping with serious bodily injury, criminal confinement resulting in serious bodily injury, and aggravated battery causing serious permanent disfigurement. 

Franklin is accused of driving the victim to a Bonnell Road barn on June 2 under the false pretense of taking him to get something to eat. Investigators said Breedlove, Fields and Woodruff were wearing masks while the victim was dragged out of the vehicle, punched in the face, pistol-whipped and beaten with a stick, a probable cause affidavit states. 

Read more in Saturday’s edition of The Republic.