A man who is accused of threatening to light the homemade moonshine he had thrown on a young mother and her infant will be released from the Butler County Prison, where he has been housed since the May 24 incident.

Judge B.T. Fullerton, at a preliminary hearing Monday, ordered the defendant, Aaron T. Moyers, to be released from jail on non-monetary bond because Laura Pitchford, county assistant district attorney, failed to prove that the liquid on the woman and infant was flammable.

Moyers, 42, of West Virginia, will be under pretrial supervision with an electronic monitor, and is to have no contact with the victim or any witnesses to the incident, Fullerton said.

Moyers has pleaded not guilty to charges of arson, risking a catastrophe, attempting to commit those two crimes, misdemeanor charges of terroristic threats, possession of drug paraphernalia, public drunkenness and harassment.

Officer Jacob May of the Butler City Police Department testified that he was dispatched to a Wick Street apartment building, where a caller had reported Moyers had thrown homemade moonshine on the victim and her diaper-clad infant as well as on the building and threatened to light it.

May got a clothing description of Moyers from a handful of witnesses to the alleged threat, and soon found him in the 400 block of Miller Street with a plastic jug containing a clear liquid.

He also had a weapon, lighter and a marijuana pipe on him, May said.

The officer testified that the contents of the jug “smelled like liquor.”

Upon returning to the Wick Street apartment, May said the liquid on the damp mother and baby smelled identical to the substance in the jug found on Moyers.

But Moyers' attorney, Carl Markus, asked May if he saw any burn marks anywhere or had the liquid tested to determine whether it was flammable, to which May replied “no.”

Markus also asked May if he had attempted to light the liquid himself to determine its flammability or if any fire officials were called to the address as a result of the incident.

May replied “no” to both.

“They had to prove the liquor was flammable,” Markus told Fullerton. “They didn't do that at any point.”

Fullerton asked Pitchford if she wished to continue the hearing to a future date when more witnesses could testify.

Pitchford said she did, and Fullerton ordered Moyers to be released under supervision.

Moyers, via video conference from the jail, told Fullerton he wants to be remanded to a mental health facility. He said he is in therapy and on medication, but wishes to have further mental health evaluation.

Fullerton said he would release Moyers on adult supervision.

“If you need to go for mental health treatment, Mr. Markus will advocate on your behalf,” he told Moyers.

Another hearing will be held in 30 days to give the prosecution time to assemble witnesses to the alleged crime. That hearing will determine whether the charges against Moyers will be held over for court.

District Judge Lewis Stoughton at Moyers' May 25 arraignment had remanded the defendant to the Butler County Prison without bail on the day after the incident, citing the danger he posed to society.