JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The prime suspect in the disappearance of 21-month-old Lonzie Barton can have no contact with most of the witnesses in the case, a judge ordered Tuesday.
Outside of law enforcement personnel, there are seven witnesses so far in the toddler's disappearance. The only ones Ruben Ebron can speak to are his parents, and only with a lawyer present, Judge Marianne Aho decided Tuesday.
Police have said that they believe Ebron, who was the last person to see the toddler, murdered Lonzie, who was reported missing July 24. So far, Ebron has been charged only with two counts of child neglect, one count of lying to police and four charges related to an escape police say he planned.
All but one of Ebron's bonds were revoked.
Attorney Gene Nichols (pictured below), who is not affiliated with the case, said that it is crucial for the state to clamp down like this as they pursue a murder charge against Ebron. He said Tuesday's order was necessary and sound so that no witnesses are threatened by a murder suspect.
"It's a little rare to have the judge come back again. Clearly the state felt that there was enough to have the judge take this extra step and tell the jail, don't let him talk to anybody. And that's why it's a little bit more out of the ordinary," Nichols said.
According to the state, Ebron attempted to contact his ex-girlfriend, who has an injunction against him, more than 30 times the first three weeks he was in jail. She and Lonzie's mother, Lonna Lauramore Barton, who are not on the witness list, were included in the judge's no-contact order.
Nichols said that since Ebron has a proven track record of reaching out to his ex-girlfriend and multiple witnesses, the state felt it was necessary to bring the matter to the judge's attention in court.
"The judge went ahead and issued an order and said you're done with using the phone. There's no more trying to contact anybody. You can have face-to-face, and what that does, is it allows for immediate knowledge as to who he's talking to," Nichols said.
Nichols said the state asked for the order so that Ebron couldn't intimidate, threaten or manipulate any of those seven witnesses, which the judge placed on five of them, excepting only Ebron's parents.
The state wanted Aho to deny Ebron contact with any of the witnesses, but the defense argued that Ebron should be allowed to speak to his parents.
"There's been no evidence put forward that he has contacted them trying to persuade them in any way or tamper with them in any way," Public Defender Ronald Roberts said. "They are his parents, people who raised him, and certainly we think it would be unfair if he would not have the opportunity to be able to speak with them about this case and what's going on."
But assistant state attorney Rich Mantei said Ebron asked his parents to relay messages for him.
"I'm not suggesting that they took him up on his offer, but it is not as though he hasn't done that sort of thing," Mantei said. "Following the state's perspective, he has demonstrated that he will attempt to manipulate what he can manipulate."
In the end, Aho allowed Ebron only restricted contact with his parents.
He is also allowed to write to them, but the jail is allowed to monitor the letters when necessary.
Ultimately Nichols said the judge is taking a big step in not allowing Ebron to communicate over the phone, but said the order is more than reasonable.
"When a judge is making these decisions, she's got to make sure that if there's any danger to the community that she has to then act. In this case, the judge clearly felt that there was a danger in this case so she shut down any conversation he has. It appears to be a very sound and correct decision by the court," Nichols said.
When asked if Ebron can get in trouble for what he's already done, communicating with witnesses, Nichols said those charges aren't as severe as what he's already facing and since he's already in jail, and has a bond he can't make, there's not much else the judge can do.
News4Jax did reach out to Ebron's mother, Wanda Ebron, on Tuesday but she did not want to be interviewed. She did say however, that she doesn't have a problem with the judge's orders.