By early 2022, Houston had the highest murder rate of the largest American cities–even greater than Chicago.
These are the crime and criminal stories…
Rosalie Cook was stabbed to death outside her car after shopping at Walgreens near Gessner and S. Braeswood on May 16, 2020. Her accused murderer–Randy Lewis, 38– had been arrested 67 times before.
Democrat Judge Herb Ritchie waived bond for Lewis on charges where he had assaulted a public servant–while in jail for a two-year-old felony charge–and let him move to a halfway house. Lewis left the facility after two days and was back on Houston streets. He murdered Rosalie Cook two weeks later. Lewis was in the Walgreens lot where a police officer fatally shot him after Lewis lunged at the officer with a knife.
Joshua Sandoval, 28 years old, was followed home at night and died after being shot in his garage on May 27, 2021.
Two weeks later, robbers followed Jeffrey Johnson and his wife from a Galleria-area restaurant to their League City home on June 11, 2021, where he was shot to death in his garage.
Devan Jordon was charged in both murders.
Records link Jordon to a string of robberies and shootings across Houston. Before the murders of Joshua and Jeffrey, Jordon had been jailed on multiple felony charges, including evading arrest with weapons in his car. But Democrat Judge Te’iva Bell had let Jordon out of jail on bond in April 2021. He failed to wear an ankle monitor as mandated, so was ordered to return to court the next month. Jordon did not show up in court. That same day, Joshua Sandoval was murdered. The next month, Jeffrey Johnson was killed.
Even after Jordon was charged with two capital murders for the deaths of Josh Sandoval and Jeffrey Johnson, Democrat Judge Jason Luong again let Jordon out of jail on bond.
Martha Medina, a 71-year-old mother and grandmother, was picking up breakfast for her family at a McDonald’s in east Houston on September 23, 2021, when a man snatched her purse then killed her by running over her in the parking lot. Police say Andrew Williams had followed Martha from a nearby bank then killed her.
Before Martha was murdered, Democrat Judge Hilary Unger had released Williams on bond on a charge of capital murder. That prior murder had happened in March 2019–two years before.
Williams was tried for Martha’s murder. A jury found him guilty in April 2023. Republican Judge Denise Collins then sentenced Williams to life in prison, without parole.
Reginald Lewis was shot in the head and his house set on fire on August 16, 2021.
Four weeks later, Donovan Bryant was shot to death while riding his four-wheeler in northeast Houston.
Donald Lenor, Reginald Lewis’s stepson, was charged with murdering both Reginald and Donovan. Lenor had multiple convictions for violent felonies over 20 years.
Lenor was on Houston streets when Reginald and Donovan were murdered because Democrat Judge DaSean Jones had reduced Lenor’s bail and released him on bond for five pending prior felony charges, including strangling his girlfriend and shooting a man, even though Lenor was found to be a “danger to the future safety of the community.”
Nearly three years after Reginald and Donovan were killed, Lenor pleaded guilty to murdering them and was sentenced to 49 years in prison.
Caitlynne Guajardo, 20 years old and pregnant, was repeatedly stabbed at her Pasadena home in August 2019, killing her and her unborn child. Alex Guajardo, her husband, confessed and was charged with her murder.
Alex Guajardo had been arrested and released by Democrat Judge Shannon Baldwin’s court on no-cost bonds for crimes including multiple DWI’s and assault for beating his wife. He was released just 18 hours days before she was murdered.
As of fall 2024 — over five years after Caitlynne was murdered — Guajardo is still awaiting trial in Democrat Judge Melissa Morris’s court.
Layla Steele, 24 years old, was killed on July 1, 2021, while protecting her one-year-old son. Zacchaeus Gaston was arrested and charged with Layla’s murder.
Gaston had previously been let out of jail on bond for at least five felony charges, including assaulting a family member. In September 2020, Gaston was charged with aggravated assault of a family member for pistol-whipping Layla, his girlfriend.
In April 2021, prosecutors asked Democrat Judge Natalia Cornelio to revoke one of Gaston’s many bonds. They told Judge Cornelio that Gaston had been charged on six felony cases after first being let out on bond 2-1/2 years before.
What did Judge Cornelio do? She did not revoke Gaston’s bond. Instead, on June 29, Judge Cornelio – on her own – dismissed the charge against Gaston for assaulting Layla.
Two days later, after cutting off his ankle monitor, Gaston murdered Layla Steele.
Witnesses heard arguing and saw Gaston fighting with Layla Steele before pulling a pistol on her as she held her son. Gaston shot Layla in the torso, and she fell to the ground covering her son. A witness saw Gaston stand over Layla and fire four to five more times, then hit her in the head while witnesses yelled for him to stop. Gaston also shot Layla’s one-year-old son. Layla died protecting him.
Gaston pleaded guilty in May 2024 and was sentenced to 42 years in prison.
Democrat Judge Robert Johnson let Lewis free in 2022 on probation/deferred adjudication for a felony charge. Lewis was out on bond on that probation order police arrested him in July 2023 on a charge of aggravated robbery. Prosecutors promptly asked Judge Johnson to revoke Lewis’s 2022 probation. Instead, Judge Johnson let Lewis out of jail for just $40,000 in bonds.
Three months later, Lewis and another man went looking for a used car at a Houston car lot owned by the Abdelmalak family. Lewis got into an argument with the father. Lewis and the other man assaulting the father, pushing him down. The family’s only son, 25-year-old Daniel, stepped in to protect his father. That’s when police say Lewis pulled out a gun and shot Daniel multiple times. Daniel died in his mother’s arms.
Lewis turned himself in to the Houston Police and later admitted to his role in the shooting.
Corey Hodge murdered 18-year-old Diego Langhum in West Houston on April 17, 2021. Police say Hodge shot Diego to death and wounded his friend, then shot another man on July 12, 2021. Hodge was charged with murder and two counts of aggravated assault in August 2021.
Despite those multiple charges against Hodges for violent crimes, Democrat Judge Nikita Harmon let Hodge post bond and walk out of jail in October 2021.
Prosecutors reported to Judge Harmon over the following months that Hodge had violated his bond conditions 37 times. But Democrat Judge Nikita Harmon did nothing about Hodge. Then, in June 2022, prosecutors pressed and Judge Harmon finally revoked Hodge’s bail after Hodge had been let loose on Houston streets for nearly 8 months.
Hodge finally pleaded guilty in May 2024 to murdering Diego Langhum and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Dominic Sumicek, age 11, was murdered in a townhome complex parking lot in west Houston, along with his stepfather, Menuell Solomon. As Solomon backed into his driveway with his stepson in the passenger seat, Hawkins came through a hole in the fence, shot Dominic twice and Menuell four times, killing them both.
When he murdered Dominic, Hawkins was out on bond for a prior capital murder four years before, in 2016. In that case, Hawkins had been arrested for fatally shooting a man during a robbery. But Democrat Judge Maria Jackson lowered the bail amount twice until Hawkins was able to get a $90K bond in December 2019 and walk out of jail despite the capital murder charge. He was then released on that bond with a GPS ankle monitor.
Less than nine months later, Hawkins killed Dominic Sumicek and his stepfather, Menuell Solomon. Hawkins was still wearing the ankle monitor when he murdered Dominic and Menuell in September 2020.
After a jury found him guilty of capital murder, Hawkins was sentenced in September 2023 to life in prison without the possibility for parole.
When Keith Tondre Hardy, 25 years old, left home for an errand on December 1, 2019, he told his mother that he would be back home in an hour. He never came back. Over two years later, Jeremiah Brown was charged with Keith’s murder. Witnesses said they saw Brown enter a car with Hardy in the backseat and, after a brief argument, shoot Keith Hardy in the head.
In February 2021, over a year later, Brown was finally charged with Keith’s murder and with . His bond was initially set at $150,000. While in jail, Brown was charged with another felony –possessing a weapon in the jail facility – in October 2022. His bond for that charge was set at $50,000, for a total of $200,000 in bonds. But then, in January 2024, Democrat Judge Melissa Morris lowered both of Brown’s bonds to one-fourth as much (a total $50,000), so he could get out of jail for as little as $5,000.
With his family grieving Keith Hardy every day, they are still awaiting a trial nearly five years since Keith was murdered. Meanwhile, Democrat Judge Melissa Morris has not tried the case but has accommodated the accused murderer by lowering his bonds, even after he was charged with another violent felony after the murder charge.
On September 15, 2023, 16-year-old Cooper Cullen Cash Root died from fentanyl poisoning. In January 2024, 24-year-old Omarion Bailey was arrested and charged with Cooper’s murder by fentanyl delivery. Bailey had a violent history and lengthy criminal record.
In 2018, a then 19-year-old Omarion Bailey was wanted for shooting a 7-year-old boy in a drive-by but the case was dismissed because witnesses were gone. By 2023, while out on bond for DWI, Bailey was charged with a string of crimes, including assault with bodily injury, assault on a family member, criminal mischief, DWI, retaliation, and stalking. Despite prior history of violent crime Democrat judge Melissa Morris let Bailey out on only a $20K bond. In December 2023, Bailey was charged with possessing a controlled substance after allegedly selling fentanyl to undercover agents. Democrat Judge Morris let Bailey out of jail for that offense the next week on only a $15K bond.
A month later, Bailey was charged with Cooper’s murder. Bond for that murder charge was initially set at $250K in January 2024. But Democrat Judge Melissa Morris lowered the bond amount twice until Bailey walked out of jail in May 2024. Despite Bailey’s violent history and multiple reports of bond violations, Democrat Judge Melissa Morris has let him loose on our streets and in our neighborhoods.
Diamond Alvarez, 15 years old, was shot 22 times, in the back, while walking her dog on January 11, 2022. Police charged 17-year-old Frank DeLeon, Jr., for Diamond’s murder.
Democrat Judge Hazel Jones released DeLeon on bond. He continued to threaten and harass the Alvarez family with gunshots at night. He was jailed again in April 2022 for alleged bond violations, but his bond was not revoked. Instead, Judge Jones again released him on bond.
DeLeon pleaded guilty to murdering Diamond and was sentenced in October 2023 to 45 years in prison.
34-year-old Sherniqua Banks was bringing her 3-year-old son home from day care after she finished catering an event with her food truck business on September 7, 2023. She was later found shot to death in the driver’s seat of her crashed car with her 3-year-old son in the backseat unhurt. After investigation, police arrested and charged Dominique Menefee the next month with Sherniqua’s murder.
Menefee already had multiple prior felony convictions and a violent history. Then, while on parole for aggravated robbery, he was charged with felony drug possession on September 1, 2023. But Democrat judge Colleen Gaido then let him out of jail on personal recognizance – that is, a no-money bond.
Six days after Menefee walked out of jail on that PR bond, police say he murdered Sherniqua.
Robin Strong, 32 years old, was murdered in a motel room in north Houston on March 11, 2023. Police the next month charged Duley Blake with the murder.
Though only 18 years old, Blake already had four gun-related charges, including illegal possession of prohibited weapons. He had been arrested and charged the year before for possessing a machine gun. But Democrat Judge Colleen Gaido had released Blake from jail for that charge on a $3,000 bond. Then Judge Gaido let Blake avoid prison time by granting him deferred adjudication/probation on March 9, 2023, so he could go free without ever serving any time.
Two days later, Robin Strong was murdered.
As of fall 2024, Blake still has not been tried. But Democrat Judge Gaido has lowered his bonds multiple times, in the murder case and two machine-gun weapons cases.
Ramona Jones, a mother of three and a grandmother, was stabbed to death on October 28, 2020.
Felisha Washington was charged with murdering Ramona. Democrat Judge Chris Morton then lowered her bail amount and released Washington on bond. While awaiting trial for Ramona’s murder, Washington was charged with stabbing a witness to the Jones murder in August 2021.
Washington pleaded guilty in February 2024 to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Silvano Cortez, 55 years old, and his wife were sleeping at their Greenspoint-area home on October 19, 2017 when robbers invaded and ransacked their home and held them at gunpoint, then shot Silvano to death.
Summer Chester, a 23-year-old TSU senior, was killed January 25, 2022, by a hit-and-run driver who ran a red light on the North Freeway feeder and slammed into her car, knocking it on its side on the sidewalk. The driver fled the scene.
Jonathan Vera was charged with both deaths.
Vera had been arrested and charged with the capital murder of Silvano almost four years before Summer was killed. Vera stayed in jail over two years, where he was also charged with harassment of a public servant.
Then, in March 2021, Democrat Judge Natalia Cornelio lowered his bond–for capital murder–to $50,000. Vera walked out of jail the next day. Vera was arrested and charged with manslaughter in 2022 for the death of Summer Chester.
In November 2022 — over four years after his arrest — Vera pleaded guilty to murdering Silvano Cortez and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Khylie Sorrells, 9 years old, died after being shot in her Heights-area apartment bedroom on June 13, 2022. Police said her accused murderer, Jeremiah Jones, was upset with Khylie’s mother, ripped a TV off a wall, fired two shots into a bedroom, shot the mother, and left. Khylie, shot in the head, died before she reached the hospital.
Jones had multiple felony convictions, had been charged with burglary and being a felon in possession of gun, and had five pending felony charges. But Democrat Judge Ramona Franklin had let Jones out of jail on bond anyway, in June 2022. Two weeks later, Khylie Sorrells was murdered.
Keishan Betts, 46 years old, was shot in her Clear Lake-area apartment on April 17, 2022. She died in the hospital the next week. Delvin Clemons was charged with her murder.
Before Keishan was murdered, Clemons’ record included 17 felony convictions and other charges, including robbery, unlawfully possessing a weapon, assault, family violence, indecent exposure, and burglary. Clemons had been arrested in October 2021 for burglary and being a felon possessing a firearm. Democrat Judge Josh Hill promptly let Clemons out of jail on a $15,000 bond. Clemons was again arrested the next month for possessing a firearm. Rather than revoke his prior bond, Democrat Judge Josh Hill released Clemons again in November 2021, on a $20,000 bond.
Five months later, with Clemons out of jail on bond despite his extensive criminal record, Keishan Betts was murdered.
John Smith, 17 years old, was shot and killed outside a home in the Independence Heights/Garden Oaks area of Houston on May 21, 2022. Police arrested and charged 44-year-old Raymond Young with the murder. At the time, Young had a rap sheet that included three gun charges and four assault convictions, including two causing bodily injury. Young was also a registered sex offender with multiple felony convictions of indecent exposure with a child.
Democrat Judge Dasean Jones let Young out of jail on a $10,000 bond for felony charges of assaulting a family member.
Two weeks later, with Young out on bail despite his criminal record, teenager John Smith was murdered.
Houston police officer Bill Jeffrey, 54 years old, was fatally shot on on September 20, 2021, at an apartment complex in northeast Houston. Officer Jeffrey was trying to arrest Deon Ledet, 31, a twice-convicted felon who had been arrested 18 times after 2008 on charges that included burglary, aggravated assault of a family member, car theft, and evading arrest. Ledet had been sent to prison on a ten-year sentence for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. His latest charge, in November 2020, was for felony drug possession and intent to distribute.
Prosecutors had moved to deny bail, but Democrat Judge Greg Glass instead disagreed and actually lowered the total bond amount to $30,000. Ledet returned to Houston streets, never got the ankle monitor he was required to wear, and violated his bond conditions, then did not show up in court as ordered in January 2021. Eight months later, Bill Jeffrey and another tried to serve an arrest warrant on Ledet, who then fired on the police. After exchanging gunfire with the police, Ledet was killed after he shot Officer and murdered Officer Jeffrey.
According to the president of the Houston Police Officers Union, the Democrat Judge “neglected his duty” by refusing to hold trial and repeatedly releasing hundreds of violent suspects on bond.
Reginald “Duke” Larry was shot in the head ouside a south Houston convenience store on February 9, 2020, and later died in the hospital. Gerald Dewayne Washington, charged with the murder, was out of jail on bond despite a previous murder charge.
Washington was charged in fall 2018 for the October 2017 shooting murder of Crystal Turner. Mere months after she first took office in 2019, Democrat Judge Ramona Franklin reduced Washington’s bail bond amount and let him out of jail. Some six months later, Reginald Larry was murdered.
Nearly six years after the first killing, a jury in September 2023 found Washington guilty of murdering Crystal Turner. Washington then pleaded guilty to murdering Reginald Larry, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
James Patrick Jeffery, 64 years old, was beaten to death in his southwest Houston home with a metal bar on August 20, 2021. Vincent Trevon Sanders was charged with capital murder in the brutal slaying.
Sanders, a career criminal, already had a string of felony convictions in Harris and Fort Bend counties. Sanders was charged with five more felonies after March 2020, including robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and strangling a family member. But Democrat Judge Frank Aguilar repeatedly let Sanders out of jail on bond, despite prosecutors asking him three times to revoke those bonds.
Sanders was on Houston streets after being released time and again when police say he broke into James Patrick Jeffery’s home and beat him to death. With no known next of kin, Mr. Jeffery was buried in a pauper’s grave.
Alejandro Ocanas, a 25-year-old father of two, was shot multiple times and died in southeast Houston on October 21, 2020. Giovani Montiel was charged with murder for Alejandro’s death.
This was not Montiel’s first murder charge. He had been arrested and charged with capital murder for an October 2016 killing during an attempted robbery. Montiel remained in Harris County jail for three years, awaiting trial. After taking office in 2019, Democrat Judge Jason Luong approved a plea deal (never finalized) to reduce the charge to aggravated robbery, then reduced Montiel’s bond to only $20,000. Montiel promptly got out of jail after paying only $2,000.
Three months later, Alejandro was murdered, leaving behind his wife and children. Montiel was arrested. Police say Montiel shot him and left him to die.
Montiel finally pleaded guilty in November 2022 to murdering Alejandro Ocanas and was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
And Many More…
There are over 150 capital murder warrants issued in Harris County today. This is the largest the city of Houston has ever experienced.
Andy Kahan
CRIMESTOPPERS March 29, 2022
