By ANNA BROWN

Family members and friends of Maria Fernandez broke into spontaneous applause Wednesday afternoon after bond was denied for the man accused of killing her.

“No demonstrations, please,” said Circuit Judge Lee Alford as several law officers stationed around the courtroom moved closer to the family members, several who were wearing T-shirts with Ms. Fernandez’s photo on the front.

Alford agreed with 16th Circuit Solicitor Kevin Brackett’s contention that Jamel Good is a flight risk and said Good will remain in the Union County Jail until he is tried. Alford instructed Brackett to make the case a priority and within 90 days should set a date for the trial. Brackett said Good likely will be tried this fall.

During the 30-minute hearing Brackett laid out the state’s case against Good in the murder of the popular 31-year-old nurse, who disappeared on Sept. 3, 2008. Good, who wore a black and white jail-issue jumpsuit, an orange jacket, orange socks and sandals, did not address the court but leaned over frequently to speak into the ear of his lawyer, Doug Brannon of Spartanburg.

Brannon said Good, who will turn 29 on March 16, is not a flight risk and would remain in the area to help him prepare his defense. Brannon referred to Good’s minor criminal record — a drug charge and a driving under suspension more than 10 years ago — and the fact that Good’s driving record now is clear to the point that he had a commercial driver’s license. He said Good was responsible for his two children — including one he shared with Ms. Fernandez — and had been taking them to school.

“He is a lifelong resident of this county; there is no risk of flight in this matter,” Brannon said.

Brackett said Good has relatives and connections out of the state, including a relative in the Atlanta area.

Pointing toward two rows of Good’s family members, Brannon asked Alford to set a reasonable bond of no greater than $200,000 — saying the family had agreed to collectively put up their assets.

Brackett, in turn, presented facts in the case, including much information that had not previously been made public. He said there had been discord in the relationship between Ms. Fernandez and Good. Though on the day she disappeared they had looked at a house together, she had told co-workers that she planned to end her relationship with him and purchase a house on her own.

An investigation showed that Good never called authorities to report Ms. Fernandez missing. Brackett said when deputies went to Good’s home on 389 Blue Ridge Road to talk with him, he refused to come to the door. He later came to the sheriff’s office with his lawyer, Thom White, “to ask what they were interested in.”

Good then gave a statement saying he last saw Ms. Fernandez on the porch of his home on 389 Blue Ridge Road as he left with a friend, Bruce Talley, to go to Spartanburg to work on her brother’s house.

Good also told officers he had made efforts to look for her, including calling her cell phone.

Brackett said records showed Good had not called Ms. Fernandez’s phone.

“The only reason he wouldn’t call was he knew she wouldn’t answer; she was already dead,” Brackett said.

A neighbor reported hearing three gunshots a second apart between 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. on the day Ms. Fernandez disappeared. When officers searched the premises, they found in a barrel burned pieces of the face plate of a cell phone that matched Ms. Fernandez’s; phone, jewelry — including hoop earrings consistent with those she wore — and three shell casings.

Good’s car had a strong odor of cleaning fluid. The carpet in the trunk had been cut out down to the bare metal and the trunk also smelled of Clorox or another fluid.

Good said he was in Spartanburg in the hours after Ms. Fernandez disappeared. Brackett said his cell phone activated off a tower in Carlisle. Ms. Fernandez’ skeletal remains were found on Jan. 7 off Herbert Road in a remote area outside Carlisle near the home of a friend of Good’s. Brackett said because of the condition of the remains, a cause of death has not been established.

Sericea lespedeza, a type of grass, was found growing in the area near Ms. Fernandez’s remains. Brackett said this same grass was found under Good’s car.

Brackett said Good’s children were inside the house when officers initially came to talk to him but the door intentionally was not opened. Later, the children were interviewed by experts and the Children’s Advocacy Center in Spartanburg.

Union lawyer Billy Whitney, who has been retained by Ms. Fernandez’s mother, Susie, in an attempt to gain custody of Ms. Fernandez’ child with Good, quoted a report written by a counselor at the center that said the boy is fearful and withdrawn. The child said there are things he is not supposed to talk about and he would be in trouble with his father if he did. Whitney said it is his opinion the child should be allowed to return to the center for another interview to see what he may know or tell.

Susie Fernandez addressed Alford, asking bond be denied for Good.

“I do not think he should have bond,” she said. “As soon as he gets out he will run and I know his family will help him get out of town. They have been keeping my grandchild from me for six months and I know they will help him get out of town.”

Darnell Fernandez, the victim’s brother, said Good had been working on his house before his sister was murdered.

“He left the house running and he has been running ever since,” he said. “If he is released on bond, it will be devastating for our family.”

Brannon countered these contentions by saying that the man on Lakeside Drive who showed the house for sale to Good and Maria Fernandez had reported the couple seemed in a good mood. He said Good did not know Ms. Fernandez intended to break off their relationship. He said although the neighbor had reported hearing shots earlier that evening, Good’s friend, Bruce Talley, had reported seeing her on the porch of the home at 9 that night as he and Good left for Spartanburg.

Brackett said a surveillance video of a convenience store in Spartanburg showed Good there at that time and Tally could not have seen her on the porch.

Talley said something made a noise in the back of Good’s car as they were riding, Brackett said. Good got out and Talley could hear him beating something against the car. Later, pieces of a phone that matched Ms. Fernandez’s were found broken on the side of the road.