Breaking Bond: Two families blame same judge for the recent slayings of their loved ones
HOUSTON - "His life mattered to us. He had his whole life ahead of him. This could have been avoided, but it was not," said a relative of 17-year-old Raul Zarco.
There’s no doubt the teen would be alive today if 262nd Criminal District Court Judge Lori Chambers Gray would have done what the DA’s office asked her to do.
For more than a year, all Judge Gray did to 21-year-old Raul Alexander Leon was give him break after break for each new criminal charge he picked up.
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"There’s so many bond violation reports I couldn’t keep up," said Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers.
Back in August, the DA’s office asked Judge Gray to revoke Leon’s bond. She didn’t do that.
Now, Leon is charged with murder in the January 14 shooting death of Raul Zarco.
"If the bond was revoked, Raul Zarco is alive, no if and’s or buts," said Kahan. "But do you know what happened to this motion to revoke? It sat there, it was never acted on."
"It makes me really angry, it makes me sad. I wish all of this was a dream," Zarco’s relative said.
Last month, we told you how Judge Gray let 28-year-old Deerian Carroway remain free on multiple bonds.
On January 1, Carroway was charged in the murder of 46-year-old Patrick Aiken.
"Because of her decision, my brother had to pay with his life, and as a family we have to deal with the aftermath of that and that pain," said Theresa Seck, Patrick’s sister.
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"Maybe if she would put herself in someone else’s shoes that lost somebody who had a whole life in front of them, then maybe she would think differently," said Zarco’s relative.
Believe it or not, Judge Lori Chambers Gray allowed Zarco’s alleged killer to bond out of jail on the murder charge.
That’s why his relative asked not to be identified by face or name.
"Just like he killed him, he could come back and kill us," Zarco’s relative said.