Bond reduction was denied Monday for a convicted killer accused of firing a gun outside a Marengo restaurant while facing pending alleged domestic battery charges.

McHenry County Judge James Cowlin said Rudy A. Villarreal Jr., 49, of Marengo, being held in McHenry County Jail on $300,000 bond is “a threat to the community.”

He would need $30,000 to be released.

His attorney, Assistant Public Defender Richard Behof, asked that Villarreal’s bond be reduced to $150,000. He said Villarreal would be able to post the required $15,000.

Villarreal entered the courtroom using a walker. Behof did not know why Villarreal was using a walker other than to say he has a disability.

“I believe his bond is extremely high,” Behof told the judge.

Villarreal is charged with armed violence for allegedly pulling a pistol from his waist band and firing three shots into the air “in the presence of multiple bystanders.” The alleged incident happened about 11 p.m. June 2 outside Taqueria La Placita 2, 228 S. State St., according to the criminal complaint filed in the McHenry County courthouse.

He also was charged with possessing a firearm as a felon, reckless discharge of a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon, possessing a firearm in a liquor establishment and violating an order of protection, according to the complaint.

Days before the alleged shooting incident, Villarreal posted $1,000 of a $10,000 bond and was released from McHenry County Jail where he was being held on domestic battery charges and for failing to register with the state’s Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registry.

The domestic offense was alleged to have occurred May 27 in his Marengo home. The shooting incident allegedly began inside the restaurant during an argument with the person he is accused of slapping and choking on May 27, according to court documents and Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Miller.

The complaint alleges that he was harassing someone who had requested an order of protection against him while at the restaurant and then sought to intimidate them by firing the shots. A separate complaint alleges that late last month he slapped a woman across the face and choked her before taking her phone to prevent her from calling 911.

Miller asked the judge to take note of Villarreal’s pending domestic battery case, the details surrounding the shooting incident as well as his 1995 murder conviction.

Miller said Villarreal’s current bond is “incredibly reasonable.”

Villarreal was arrested last week on a $300,000 warrant in Elgin where he also lists a home address in court records.

Villarreal was convicted of murder in Cook County in 1995, according to the complaint and Sgt. Mike Martino, a spokesperson for the Elgin Police Department.

On Oct. 23, 1993, he shot and killed another man outside a bar in Elgin, the Chicago Tribune reported at the time of his sentencing. He was convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison and released from prison in 2018, spokesperson for the Illinois Department said.

In denying bond reduction Cowlin said Villarreal “has a history of violent crimes” and this “is a very serious offense.”

Villarreal is due back in court for preliminary hearing June 23.