Lexington County family stunned after man accused of murdering a family member has bond set

Lexington, SC (Paul Kirby) – A Lexington county family is stunned and confused after a judge recently set bond for a man accused of murdering a family member last December. The Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said that Joanie Youmans was shot and killed by her then boyfriend Brandon Corder. He was charged with murder, but a judge recently set a bond for Corder at $100,000. 

Clay Burke, whose sister is married to Youmans’s son, said his family isn’t just disgusted they are afraid of how Corder will act or what he might do once he makes bond and is back on the streets of the community. “We’ve never heard of a bond on a solid murder case,” Burke said Wednesday evening. “He said he shot her, but it was in self-defense. It seems like when someone is taken to jail it’s just a sure thing they’re going to get a bond. Bonding companies are accepting such a small percentage to write a bond. We are afraid his family will find a bonding company that wants just a few thousand and will be able to get him out soon!” Burke said that his family members live just a few roads over from Corder’s family and that has got everyone scared for their lives. 

Mariah Erickson, Burke’s sister and Joanie’s daughter-in-law said Wednesday evening that she was being forced to move because of the threat of Corder’s release from jail and certainly wouldn’t be able to get a good night’s sleep if he bonds out. “How would you like to have the guy that killed someone you love live just a few roads over from where you live,” she said. “This isn’t the first time he’s been arrested, and he doesn’t really take the law very serious,” she continued. “The judge said he’d have to wear an ankle monitor but that’s a joke. If he wants that off, he’ll cut it off and could be over here before alarms even go off where it’s monitored,” she concluded. 

Court records confirm that Corder has been in trouble with the law before. He has been charged with arson, domestic violence, and DUI in the past. Burke says his criminal history is one of the reasons that his family is so frightened by the possibility of Corder’s release. “He doesn’t really care about the cops much and if he can bond out for murder, why should he.” 

Another Red Bank couple who knew Corder well as a child said that his pending release was unnerving for the whole community. “I understand he got tangled up in drugs when he got older and that he’s done a lot of things since he played over here when he was little. My husband says we have nothing to worry about but how could you not worry at least a little,” the wife concluded. 

If Corder makes bond, beside the ankle monitoring he will be under house arrest.