Local News in Brief : 2 Defendants in Ecclesia Case Freed

An Oregon judge has released two of four defendants facing trial in the beating death of the daughter of Ecclesia Athletic Assn. founder Eldridge J. Broussard Jr. and reduced bail for the other two.

Clackamas County Circuit Judge John Lowe granted defense motions for the release of Willie K. Chambers, 35, and Constance Z. Jackson, 37. Lowe ordered both to remain in Oregon until their trial, to contact their attorneys in person weekly and not to be in charge of children under 18.

Lowe reduced bail to $25,000 from $250,000 for the other two defendants, Brian J. Brinson, 30, and Frederick P. Doolittle, 28. But Ron Thom, a court-appointed attorney representing Brinson, told the judge that it is unlikely that the defendants could post the reduced bail.

The four face a joint manslaughter trial Dec. 12 as a result of the Oct. 14 beating death of 8-year-old Dayna Lorea Broussard. She was among more than 50 children living at the association’s religious-athletic camp near Sandy, Ore.

Her father, who was not charged, was then in Los Angeles, where the group was founded as the Watts Christian Center.