Breaking Bond: Judges who allowed defendants to remain free on bond that ended with deadly consequences
HOUSTON - What do six criminal district court judges have in common? They allowed at least six defendants in their courts to remain free on multiple felony or PR bonds until they were charged with killing someone.
Remember the 110 lives allegedly taken by violent repeat offenders free from jail on multiple felony and PR bonds are the ones we’ve documented and are aware of.
There are undoubtedly many more.
"It’s a tragedy yet from our perspective, it’s so utterly preventable because the defendants time and time again were released on multiple bonds," said Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers.
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When it comes to the six criminal district court judges, 262nd court Judge Lori Chambers-Gray leads the pack. She’s given multiple bonds to nine defendants now accused of taking a life while free on those bonds.
The most recent, Marcus Sparkman, he’s now charged with capital murder.
Coming in second, 182nd Criminal District Court Judge Danny Lacayo. He has eight defendants now charged with killing someone after he allowed them to remain free while picking up new felony charges.
Take 41-year-old Jonny Zermeno
"We got a PR bond for assault on a family member, we have another felony bond for violation of a protective order, and then we had another felony bond for continuous violence against a family member," Kahan said.
On Sunday, Zermeno shot and killed that family member claiming it was an accident.
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232nd Criminal District Court Judge Josh Hill, 230th Criminal District Court Judge Chris Morton, 263rd Judge Any Martin, and 248th Judge Hillary Unger have all given multiple felony or PR bonds to at least six defendants now accused of killing someone while free on those bonds.