Breaking Bond

The common thread between Wednesday's officer-involved shooting and one some 12 hours earlier, both men killed were free from jail on bond.

For more than a year, we've repeatedly asked Judges Hillary Unger, Greg Glass, and Jason Luong for interviews for Breaking Bond reports. All those requests were ignored. Three candidates running against them were more than happy to talk to us.

FOX 26 hears from a leading bail-bondsman, who says a small, but unscrupulous group of "bad actors" within his own industry are giving criminal defendants a "deeply discounted" path of jail.

Last December, FOX 26 told you 21-year-old Devan Jordon was charged with capital murder in Sandoval's slaying. After a closer look at court documents, we made a troubling discovery.

Randy Wallace, one of our veteran investigative reporters, who leads FOX 26's Breaking Bond series, received the first-ever ‘Journalist of the Year’ award by the Houston Police Officers' Union.

Even though Criminal District Court judges can deny bonds to capital murder defendants, we have found more than 110 capital murder suspects free from jail on bond. At least four of them are accused of killing someone else while out on bond.

Whitmire, who is running for mayor, and Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg, didn't hold back when discussing how misdemeanor court judges play a part in our ever-growing crime problem.

A convicted sex offender free from jail on five felony bonds for charges involving human trafficking is now a wanted fugitive.

Harsh words and heavy pressure is being aimed at Harris County leaders over the ongoing failure to lower violent crime, as alleged killers keep bonding out of jail.

In our ongoing series Breaking Bond, one city council member has taken unprecedented steps to hold judges accountable for granting several felony bonds to repeat violent offenders.

With our continued coverage of crime and public safety in the Houston area and many arrested bonding out, FOX 26 speaks to former police officer, judge, and attorney Charles ‘Big Angry’ Adams to learn more on this trend and how the bond system exactly works.

In August 2021, Humphrey was freed from jail with a personal recognizance bond for a terroristic threat charge. He never returned to court but picked up two felony assault charges.

In the first 11 days of this year, court records show 11 people have already picked up their second DWI charge and judges are doing nothing to stop them from driving.