Houston – Theresa Seck was to have celebrated her brother’s birthday nearly two weeks ago. Instead, she finds herself - like so many others - without a response to a one-word question, why?
“I don’t know what is the point of having bond conditions when you are not making them accountable,” said Seck whose brother, Patrick Aikens, was gunned down on September 20, 2020, outside of his apartment in Houston’s west side.
The storyline? A similar one, the man charged with his murder was out on multiple felony bonds. It’s a growing trend causing families across our area a lifetime of pain.
KPRC 2 Investigates highlighted Aikens on Monday night as the third-worst example of a failure in the bond system, according to Andy Kahan of Crime Stoppers.
Seck blames the Judge in her brother’s case, Lori Chambers Gray out of the 262nd Criminal Court, “She was the last line of defense to protect the public,” said Seck who feels judges in these cases, “just don’t care.”
The other two cases we highlighted involved suspects provided bond by Judge Natalia Cornelio out of the 351st Criminal Court and Judge Chris Morton out of the 230th Criminal Court.
But what about the others?
To identify who made the list and who didn’t, Kahan spent hours examining his nearly 140 cases where a person was killed by a defendant who was out on multiple bonds.
The takeaway for Kahan, the Director of Victim Services and Advocacy at Crime Stoppers, “I couldn’t do it justice if I had to do three and that is pretty sad,” said Kahan.
Below are the top eight who made Kahan’s complete list of the most egregious alleged repeat violent offenders in Harris County who went on to be charged with murder while out on bond. Also listed, the judge who granted at least one bond for each suspect according to court records.
Click the numbers on each image to see more about each one.
#8 Michael Mosley
248th Criminal Court, Judge Hilary Unger
#7 Louis Ybarbo
338th Criminal Court, Judge Ramona Franklin
#6 Randy Lewis
337th Criminal Court, Judge Herb Ritchie (Left Office)
#5 Raul Leon
262nd Criminal Court Judge Lori Chambers Gray
#4 Frederick Jackson
184th Criminal Court, Judge Abigail Anastasio
#3 Deerrian Caraway
262nd Criminal Court Judge Lori Chambers Gray
#2 Zacchaeus Gaston
351st Criminal Court, Judge Natalie Cornelio
#1 Jesus Gallegos
230th Criminal Court, Judge Chris Morton
Not able to see the images above, CLICK HERE.
