HOUSTON – A man accused of fatally shooting a Houston-area father in his car while his young daughter was in the back seat is waiting to hear if he will be given a bond for his release after his first court appearance on Monday.
Carlos Chavez, 28, was charged with felony murder Thursday and taken into custody Friday evening. Police used surveillance video and license plate readers to connect him to the shooting that killed 23-year-old Jadrian Edwards.
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According to records, Chavez was out on four felony bonds, including two for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and two for felon in possession of a weapon since July of 2023.
Records show some of those charges are connected to a 2023 road rage shooting that left a driver injured. He has also served time in state prison.
Prosecutors in this new case have now filed for him to be held without bond.
On Tuesday, Chavez’s attorneys will return to the courtroom for a bond hearing to determine if he will have one set or continue to be held without pending trial.
Prosecutors consider him a “true habitual felon.”
“Due to the stage the case is in, I’m in the process of investigating the facts surrounding the incident,” Chavez’s defense attorney Juan L. Guerra told KPRC 2.
Edwards’ mother, Patrice Edwards-Blake, spoke to KPRC 2′s Bryce Newberry about Chavez.
“It was a relief for the arrest, but it was also heartbreaking to know that he was out on bond and doing the same thing to somebody else,” Edwards-Blake said. “So he should have never been on the streets. I mean, they charged him with aggravated assault when that was an attempted murder. So why was he able to go free?”
She said the judge should have never given Chavez a bond, knowing he was a repeat offender.
“If I shot somebody that many times, would I be walking free?” Edwards-Blake said. “If you let him go free this time, he’s already murdered someone. I’m a mother without a child. Would he want to walk around without his children?”
What happened
The shooting happened as Edwards was en route to have photos taken with his daughter.
The shooting took place on Nov. 7 in southwest Houston.
Edwards was found shot multiple times, and a 23-year-old man who was sitting in the passenger seat of Edward’s vehicle was rushed to the hospital for injuries. According to court documents, the man was later arrested on unrelated charges.
Police initially said the deadly shooting was a road rage, but court documents didn’t specify the reason behind the shooting.
During the shooting, investigators said a woman who was sitting in the back seat of Edwards’ car grabbed his daughter when bullets started flying. The baby was not hurt.
OUR FIRST REPORT: Houston-area father shot to death with baby daughter in car
During the investigation, officers obtained security footage from a METRO bus, showing both involved vehicles—Edwards’ white Ford Crown Victoria and the suspect’s silver Toyota RAV-4—traveling at around the same speed. Edwards’ passenger’s arm is seen extended out of the car window for an unknown reason, and then the driver of the RAV-4 pulls out a gun and starts shooting, according to records.
Investigators said the RAV-4 belonged to Chavez, and his ankle monitor data confirmed he was at the scene at the time of the shooting.