Last month D.J. Maiden, 8, was shot in the face outside his Lake Highlands apartment.

Civil rights activists have been closely monitoring the case, in which Brian Cloninger, 45, stands accused. A judge recently reduced Cloninger’s $2.2 million bond, but this morning raised the bond to $5 million.

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The legal system, as always, baffles. There reportedly was a $2.2 million bond that a judge lowered because Cloninger’s attorney argued that it was too high. Cloninger’s wife reportedly was going to cash in her retirement to bail him out. After it was lowered Cloninger’s family indeed pulled together the funds. Then when he was ready to post bond, it was raised again, reportedly because District Attorney Craig Watkins stepped in, which was likely due to pressure from activist Roy Williams and supporters.

Cloninger allegedly admitted to the shooting, so it’s optimal that he will remain behind bars, but this bond back-and-forth seems unstable, unnecessary — the guy, according to the warrant, admitted to shooting a child in the face. The facts haven’t changed, so why the amount keeps changing is unclear.

Cloninger will face charges of felony injury to a child. Williams and others demanded earlier that the charges be altered to attempted murder but apparently reneged when the prosecutors explained that the former charge carries a much higher possible incarceration (20 years maximum versus 99 years, they say). Dallas Police Chief David Brown also told the activists publicly that there were no grounds for a hate crime charge, another of their requests. There was no evidence, Brown said, that the shooting was racially motivated.