A judge denied bond reduction for a teen who is accused of killing an El Paso police officer last year.

Judge Angie Juarez Barill denied Juan Antonio Gonzalez, 18, a bond reduction in a hearing Friday morning.

It was a full house in the courtroom. Many El Paso police officers and Gonzalez's family members attended the bond reduction hearing.

Gonzalez faces a capital murder charge for the beating death of Officer Jonathan Molina. According to court records, Gonzalez said he was acting in self-defense.

"We were hoping the judge would reduce Johnny's bond," said attorney Ruben Morales. "It is currently set at $1 million; she denied our bond reduction."

In November, a judge reduced Gonzalez's bail from $5 million, and Gonzalez's attorney has been pushing the judge to bring that number down even more.
"I definitely think that his bond is excessive at this point, given his circumstance. He just turned 18 about a week ago," Morales said.

Morales said he's doing what he can to try to get Gonzalez's bond reduced.

"The next step, at this point, I believe we may appeal that decision, if we could get the court of appeals to consider reducing his bond," Morales said. "We would like to have Johnny out while this is pending, but unfortunately, the judge was unwilling to reduce his bond."

Gonzalez has been in the El Paso County Jail since his arrest on Sept. 25, 2012, and jury selection for the trial is scheduled for January 10, 2014.

Morales said he hopes that Gonzalez can bond out to be with his family.

"He's a very young kid. We'd like to get him back out so he can get back with his family, get back to school; take care of those things that a young boy needs to be taking care of," Morales said.