On Tuesday, Alex Guajardo stood before the family of his murdered wife in court, taking responsibility for his crimes.
In 2019, Guajardo was arrested for assaulting his pregnant wife, Caitlynne Guajardo, and killing her cat. Shockingly, he was released from custody just hours later after being granted a personal recognizance bond, a bond that allows a defendant to be released from jail without even posting bail. Tragically, he killed his wife and the couple’s unborn son less than 24 hours later.
Guajardo pleaded guilty to two counts of murder. Today, he was handed two life sentences, along with an additional 10 years for an unrelated weapons charge obtained while he was behind bars.
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Although Guajardo faced justice for his horrific crimes, officials with CrimeStoppers are hoping that this case can create bail reform that prevents tragedies like this from happening.
On Tuesday, KPRC 2′s Lisa Hernandez spoke with Andy Kahan, the director of victims’ services for CrimeStoppers of Houston.
Kahan discussed “Caitlynne’s Law,” which eventually transformed into Senate Bill 6. The law, which was passed in September of 2021, bans the release of people accused of violent crimes on personal bonds.
“The case involving Caitlynne... This was a catalyst for change,” Kahan said. “This was the first time we really found out about the abundance of defendants being given personal recognizance bonds—better known as ‘get-out-of-jail-free cards.’ We started to take a deeper dive into this issue of defendants being charged with violent offenses, who, for some reason, were being given P.R. bonds and let out of jail for free.”
Kahan added that Senate Bill 6 has made a significant statistical difference in the homicide data CrimeStoppers observes.
“In a strange way, the death of Caitlynne has made things so much better for so many others, because they’re not going to meet the fate, because [violent offenders] won’t be getting out on a P.R. bond,” he continued.
Kahan also discussed the instrumental role that Caitlynne’s mother, Melanie Infinger, played in getting the bill passed. Infinger participated in numerous press conferences and spearheaded having the law named after her daughter that eventually became Senate Bill 6.
“[Infinger] is the one who kind of opened Pandora’s box into showing what was happening to individuals charged with violent offenses in Harris County.”
While Senate Bill 6 has made a positive difference, Kahan thinks there’s still more legislation that could protect people from these dangerous situations.
He believes that a constitutional amendment that allows judges to have the discretion to deny bond to defendants charged with various violent offenses. CrimeStoppers is also promoting a bill that would deny P.R. bonds to people who are charged with felony offenses while on parole for violent crimes.
