Macon man acquitted in killing still jailed on cell phone charge

A month after being acquitted in a Macon murder trial, Nathan Taylor is still being held at the Bibb County jail.

In September 2015, while Taylor was jailed and awaiting trial in the 2012 fatal shooting of 59-year-old Walter Henley, Bibb deputies found an illegal cell phone in the county jail and allege it belonged to 32-year-old Taylor.

In arguing Thursday for a bond to be set for Taylor, attorney Jonathan Waters said the phone was inoperable.

“It doesn’t have a card in it in order to make phone calls,” he said.

Further, Waters said the phone was found inside a sock in garbage that was picked up by deputies. There’s no evidence Taylor used the phone to make calls, he said.

Prosecutor Larissa Ollivierre said authorities monitoring Taylor’s calls from the jail phones heard him asking for someone to buy a SIM card for him to use in the phone.

She said the phone was found in his cell. If convicted of having the phone, Taylor could face up to 5 years in prison.

A judge set a $5,000 bond in the case.

Taylor has been held at the jail since his arrest Aug. 21, 2012.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Macon man acquitted in killing still jailed on cell phone charge."