By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

LAPLACE – A Reserve man accused of murdering his 8-year-old stepson on April 1 was released from jail in St. John Parish Tuesday night, just two days after District Court Judge Madeline Jasmine handed down a ruling on his bond.

A New Orleans bail bondsman helped Errol Victor Sr., 42, come up with $40,000 in cash needed to free him from the Sherman Walker Correctional Facility in LaPlace. Victor walked out of the jail around 7 p.m. Tuesday.

In court proceedings Monday, Jasmine set a $2 million bond for Victor, who was indicted on April 15 on first-degree murder charges in the death of his stepson, M. L. Lloyd III. St. John authorities required the bail bond company to post 2 percent of the total bond amount. The company is now responsible for making sure Victor appears in court.

According to investigators with the St. John Sheriff’s Office, Lloyd was unresponsive when Victor, his wife Tonya, 33, and son, Errol Jr., 24, brought him to the emergency room at River Parishes Hospital, he was pronounced dead by medical personnel.

The three were arrested later that afternoon, based on physical evidence of abuse found all over the child’s body by emergency room staff, as well as statements made by Errol Victor Sr. that he would “take responsibility for what happened.”

Tonya Victor and Errol Victor Jr. were charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder and released on $25,000 bonds. Tonya Victor was also charged with cruelty to a juvenile for her alleged involvement in the events surrounding Lloyd’s death.

According to Jasmine’s ruling, now that Victor has been released from prison, he is not allowed to have any personal or telephone contact with any of the other children living in the household at the time of Lloyd’s death. Nine of the 12 children living in the house have been turned over to state custody while custody hearings continue.

After her ruling, Jasmine said no new trial date has been set, and said the state has not determined whether it will go forward with a capital murder trial. The autopsy reports on Lloyd, as well as his death certificate, were inconsistent in listing cause of death.