In the News

One day before he was convicted by a jury for aggravated sexual assault of a child, a Beaumont man fled to Mexico while out on bail.

Data provided by Precinct 4 shows that of the 434 cases dismissed, 127 are felony charges, including 44 domestic violence-related assaults.

After sitting in jail for three years, a Harris County judge reduced bail for a capital murder defendant who was facing up to 30 years in prison. Just three months after posting the lowered bond, that defendant has been accused of murder—again.

According to court documents, Rene Alfredo Alvarado Lopez was out on bond for a previous DWI charge when he allegedly committed a hit-and-run under the influence, killing a two-year-old boy in Houston.

In the past two years, 182 Houstonians have allegedly been killed at the hands of repeat violent offenders free from jail on multiple felony or personal recognizance bonds. Only 20 of the accused murderers have been convicted.

“He should never have been a judge regrettably, should never have been a judge calling balls and strikes in a system that is supposed to be equal and fair for everyone.”

Despite at least four bond violations, Maysha Talat’s accused killer remains free in Houston today. “We are not safe when violent offenders are given a slap on the wrist and allowed to live their lives while my sister is six feet under.”

The Houston Police Department reports 322 people have been murdered so far in 2022. At this year’s victim remembrance event, there were too many names to read them all aloud.

A Texas judge granted a meager $100 bond to registered sex offender Baloch Yousef, who attempted to sexually assault a grandmother in broad daylight in a gym parking lot. Defendants are typically only required to pay 10 percent of the total bond amount to be released from jail. In this case, that’s just $10.

Despite his record of repeated bond violations, convicted criminal Eric Semien was sentenced by District Court Judge Desean Jones to just $9,000 in bail for capital murder charges.