Suspect in death of Deputy Dhaliwal appears in court

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - The man charged in the capital murder of Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal appeared in court for the first time on Monday.

District Judge Chris Morton granted the prosecution's request to hold Robert Solis without bond on the capital murder charge.

MORE: Deputy dies after being shot from behind during traffic stop

Solis, 47, appeared in court on Monday as the basics of his case were discussed. After Deputy Dhaliwal stopped Solis for a traffic violation, prosecutors say Solis shot the law enforcement officer in the back of the head as he had walked away.

After the preliminary hearing, court-appointed defense attorney Allen Isbell discussed how a capital murder charge carries a sentence of either life in prison without parole or the death penalty. He said that so far he has only met with his client for around five or ten minutes. The attorney will meet again with Solis later in the week.

"Well, of course, he's subdued and followed my instructions about not saying anything," said Isbell.

"Right now, this community is in mourning — law enforcement, family," said prosecutor Katie Warren. "A wife lost her husband. Right now is not the time to talk about the defendant."

Warren declined to discuss specific elements of the case on Monday.

Over the weekend, the court ordered that Solis be interviewed to determine whether he has mental illness or an intellectual disability.

Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez says that at the time of the shooting on Friday, Solis was wanted on a parole violation warrant dating back to January 2017 following his conviction. He had been serving time for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated kidnapping.

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