Amanda Pevey
Elmore Autauga News
Zachary Lee, a Tallassee man charged with murder in the death of Bethany Lee, was ordered back to the Elmore County Jail Wednesday following a bond hearing before Circuit Judge Amanda Baxley.
According to testimony from Lee’s mother, she secured his release on a $1.5 million bond by paying $15,000, approximately 1% of the total bond amount, through a bonding company.
“That completely undermines the process,” Chief Assistant District Attorney Mandy Johnson said, describing the arrangement as “a slap in the face to the judicial system.”
Johnson said she had never seen a defendant charged with murder released after paying such a small percentage of the total bond amount.
Judge Baxley scheduled a future hearing to examine the bonding company’s procedures and determine why Lee was released under those terms.
After hearing testimony from both the defense and prosecutors, Baxley ruled that Lee’s bond should be revoked and ordered him returned to custody.
Johnson said the state argued Lee poses a danger to the community and that keeping him in custody is necessary to protect both the public and the couple’s two children.
“I’m happy that Zachary Lee is back in the Elmore County Jail because that’s where he belongs,” Johnson said. “We feel like him being in custody is what protects the general public, and more importantly, what protects Bethany’s family and her children.”
From EAN article dated on June 4, 2025:
Elmore County deputies were called to the Lee residence in the early morning hours of May 24 after Zachary Lee made a 911 call. He reportedly told dispatchers his wife had shot him, and he had returned fire, but Bethany ran into their home. Bethany Lee was discovered dead inside the home with a gunshot wound to her lower back and another that traveled through her neck and head.
Prosecutors countered with testimony from an investigator with the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office, one of Bethany Lee’s closest friends and one of the couple’s children’s teachers, who described the emotional impact the case has had on the children and those who knew Bethany.
The state also introduced evidence of Lee’s criminal history, which Johnson said includes multiple DUI convictions, a first-degree theft of property conviction, failures to appear in court and probation violations.
