By CASSANDRA MICKENS / Associate Editor

CHELSEA — A Chelsea man accused of holding five girls at gunpoint at Chelsea Middle School last year is slated to appear in court in May.

Ryan Matthew Sims, 22, is scheduled to appear before Shelby County Circuit Judge Dan Reeves at 8:30 a.m., May 5 for a status hearing, according to court documents.

Sims, who is being held in the Shelby County Jail without bond, is charged with five counts of first-degree kidnapping and one count of making terrorist threats in connection to the Feb. 12, 2013, incident. Sims has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to the charges against him.

This past December, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals rejected a petition from defense attorneys who wanted Sims’ bail reinstated. Sims’ attorneys, Wendall Sheffield and John Letine, asked the court to reinstate Sims’ original bail or set a reasonable bail in his case.

A judge’s order noted Sheffield and Letine’s petition did not meet time requirements and that Sims had violated his bond release conditions. Sims was released from the Shelby County Jail in June 2013 after posting a $515,000 bond.

Prior to Sims’ indictment hearing in August 2013, Shelby County sheriff’s deputies found a “box containing 49 rounds of live 22 cal. cartridges” in Sims’ bedroom, according to court documents. The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office filed a motion to revoke Sims’ bond after the deputies’ discovery, and Reeves granted the motion.