February 3, 2022 • 40 mins
Summer Chester died in January this year, in a hit-and-run car accident. The other driver, Jonathan Vera, ran a traffic signal. He is now charged with manslaughter in this case, but Vera is also facing other charges. Vera was arrested on capital murder charges after a deadly home invasion. He spent two years in jail, held on $250,000 bond. In March of last year, 351st Criminal District Court Judge Natalia Cornelio lowered Vera's bond, to $50,000. The next day Vera walked out of jail.
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
- Doug Burns - Former Federal Prosecutor (New York City) "Appears Frequently on TV and Radio to Discuss Pressing Legal Issues", LinkedIn: "Douglas T. Burns, Esq."
- Dr. Jorey Krawczyn - Psychologist, Faculty Saint Leo University; Consultant Blue Wall Institute, Author: Operation S.O.S.
- Chris Byers - Former Police Chief Johns Creek Georgia, 25 years as Police Officer, Private Investigator and Polygraph Examiner, www.chrisbyersinvestigationsandpolygraph.com
- Dr. Kendall Crowns – Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), Lecturer: University of Texas and Texas A&M, Affiliated Faculty: University of Texas Medical Branch
- Alexis Tereszcuk - CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Writer/Fact Checker, Lead Stories dot Com, Twitter: @swimmie2009
- Andy Kahan - Director of Victim Services and Advocacy at Crime Stoppers of Houston, crime-stoppers.org, Facebook: "Andy Kahan and Crime Stoppers of Houston", Twitter: @AKahanCrimeSto1, Instagram: AndyVictimAdvocate
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. How does a killer get
set free by a judge who should know better, only
to kill again? And nobody seems to have noticed. But
(00:27):
guess what we have I Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories.
Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation
and series XEM one eleven, and I am talking to you,
Judge Natalia Cornelio. Judge Natalia Cornelio, you're the reason that
(00:53):
Summer Chester is dead because you let her killer from
behind bars after police catch him following a deadly home invasion.
They get him behind bars, you let him out and
guess what, it ain't her first trip to the rodeo.
(01:13):
She's done it before. Again. Thank you for being with
us here at Fox Station. In series M one eleven,
take Less to our Frisday kp RC two. I want
to show you something right off the bat that we notice.
Take a look at the front door. It is riddled
with bullet holes. Police still trying to figure out if
the shooting happened outside or inside the home. We know
(01:34):
that the man who died, the fifty five year old man,
did die inside the home. A lot of moving parts
to this investigation still ongoing. Let's take a look at
the video. Police say this happened around one fifty this morning.
Three men came up to this house, forced their way in.
There was some sort of altercation or fight. Then shocks
rang out and one man was hitting the torso, the
(01:57):
other man hitting the leg. Both of those men if
at this home. The man who was hit in the leg,
in fact, police say, was on his way to work.
He is recovering at Benab. The man hit in the torso,
the fifty five year old man, died here at the scene. Now,
the three suspects, they were able to get away with
a cell phone, a purse, and some cash. And then
(02:18):
we don't know why they wanted those things, but that
is why. That is what they got away with. A
home invasion, leaving two men shot, one dead, over a
cell phone, a purse, and some cash that was in
the purse. A home invasion nearly two a m. In
the morning. It seems like a horror movie. But why
(02:40):
why did this judge? She's got a New York University, Okay,
I went there NYU Baxter's degree. Then she goes to
law school and University of Chicago, great schools. So what
went wrong with me? An All Star Panel to figure
out what the hay is going on. First of all,
(03:00):
former federal prosecutor, high profile lawyer off and on TV.
You can see him practically everywhere. Douglas Burns. Doug Burns,
and it's in his blood. His father was the US
Attorney General as well in that jurisdiction. Doctor Jorry Crawsen
joining US faculty Saint Leo University, psychologist, author of operations,
(03:26):
Chris Buyer's former police chief John's Creek, Georgia, twenty five
years on the force, now PI and polygrapher at Chris
Buyer's Investigations and polygraph dot Com. Doctor Kendall Crowns, the
chief medical Examiner Charrant County. That's in Fort Worth. Lecturer
University Texas and Texas A and M. He's also at
(03:49):
the University of Texas Medical School. I could go on
and on about doctor Kendall Crowns. But doctor Kendall Crowns,
aren't you turne of seeing all these dead bodies piling
up in your office? This went down in Texas. Kendall Crowns,
your backyard with me a very special guest, longtime colleague,
(04:10):
and I consider a friend. Andy Cohn director of Victims
Services and Advocacy Crime Stoppers of Houston. Andy has been
fighting the good fight as long as I've known him.
But first to Alexis Terreschu, Crimealine dot Com investigative reporter, Alexis,
(04:31):
I don't get it. So this guy home invades, murders
somebody for a cell phone in a pocketbook, and then
this judge, Natalie Cornelio, let's have walk. Then he kills
somebody else, Summer Chester. Let's see, Summer's just twenty three
years old. Who is this guy Jonathan Vera, So he
(04:53):
was twenty years old, not a teenager. Twenty years old
when he and two other men first into the home
of a man named Silvano Quartet. Now Silvano and his
wife were in bed. This is one fifty in the
morning day. How'd a gentleman who was staying with them?
He was leaving the house. He was going to work
and he worked for a late or an early morning shift. Alexis,
(05:14):
I'm sure I've told you about my dad working on
the railroad Norfolk Southern for the longest time. He did
what they call the mobile route because they went through
a lot of layoffs and my dad got they had
one job for him, Alexis was the mobile route, which
means he would drive sometimes three or four hours to
(05:35):
get to work wherever they needed him throughout the Southeast
for that day. One day he might drive an hour
to work, the next day four hours, the next day
thirty minutes, depending on That's the only way he'd keep
his job at Norfolk Southern with a wife who was
then a bank teller, and three children. So one night
(05:56):
my dad would go to work at eleven pm. Next
day you might go to work at three. So I
get it. Somebody is up going to work at what
was at one fifty A m Alexis, Yes, one fifty
am leaves the house like is walking out the front
door to go to work and is ambushed by three
men with guns and so they shove him back in
(06:18):
the house. They go in the master bedroom, they grat
and that this is where mister Cortez and his wife
are sleeping in their bed. They hold them at gunpoint.
So these to this couple is you know, in their
pajamas in bed in the middle of the night, and
they're being held at gunpoint. And these guys are running
around the house, ransacking the house looking for things and
all they get to the person cell phone and some cash.
(06:40):
Now it sounds like they're in your house right now,
go ahead. They don't leave with the stuff and just
say by guys there. They end up opening fire. The
people in the home did not have guns. They were
not shooting to descend themselves. These people were just shot
by the folks that broke into the home. So Sylvano
shot in his bed, and then as the other man
(07:01):
is leaving the house, it appears that the three guys
outside turned fire back into the house. So they were
already gone and nobody was shooting at them, and they
turned back around and shoot at the guy who had
been reading for work. Take a listen to our cut
to This is Randy Wallace Fox. Twenty six. Police say
twenty year old Jonathan Vira and two other men killed
(07:22):
Solvano Cortez during a home invasion in the greens Point area,
held the homeowner and his wife at gunpoint, ransacked the home,
and then ended up killing a fifty five year old
homeowner and then shooting another suton shooting another person while
they were fleeing the scene. Then, seventeen year old Jonathan
Vira was charged with capital murder. His bond was set
(07:45):
at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He was actually
in Harris Kenner jail for at least two plus years,
and while he was in county jail, he also was
charged with another felony by harassment of a public servant
three hundred and fifty First Criminal District Court. Judge Natalia
Cornelio Lord, there is bond three fifty First District Court.
(08:09):
I mean lowered it to what I've never seen in
my career. Fifty thousand dollars for capital murder. Wow, okay,
when you hear fifty thousand dollars is the bond to you?
Former federal prosecutor, high profile lawyer Doug Burns. We all
know when we hear fifty thousand dollars bond, you don't
(08:30):
put up fifty thousand, You don't more, you don't take
a lean on your home, You don't rush to the
bank for a fifty grand loan. You put up ten
percent of that five thousand dollars. Exactly right. You put
up five thousand dollars with a bail bondsman, PaperWorks filled down,
and you're released and real quick. Fifty thousand dollars reduction
on a capital offense is absolutely absurd and it's horrific
(08:54):
what happened. And again, I'm just glad that you're calling
this church to account because this kind about, no question
about it, nothing crime stories with Nancy Grace, you know, Doug,
(09:16):
another thing about bill bond. For instance, if you go
to any jail, and I don't advise it. I've been
in way too many jails. All around the jail, all
around the jail's crop up bond companies, bonding companies because
you know, let's just pretend your son gets a DUI
(09:38):
ve vehicular homicide. You've never had any contact with the
justice system at all. You got to bond him out,
and right by the jail you see triple A bonding.
You walk in, you give them the arrest report, and
they can take collateral f since they may take a
(10:01):
lane against your home very often to get that five grand.
You don't even have to put up five grand. How
does it work? Doug Burns simply put, Yeah, I'm making
a really great point, of course, which is that when
you go to local courthouses, you know, in state court,
for example, here in New York, you see signs and
offices for bonding companies all over the place. They're incentivized,
obviously to do business, and as you say, they take
(10:24):
a small percentage, because if you want to look at
it from a statistical point of view, you know generally
those who fully you know, are in the minority. But
this case, by the way, real quick, is not about
risk of flight. This is about danger to the community.
That's a very important point. You keep people detained pre
trial for two reasons, One because they may not reappear
in court, but two ten times more importantly in a
(10:46):
violent crime case, Nancy, so they don't hurt somebody else, obviously, Exactly,
Doug Burns, Exactly, you're preaching to the choir right now.
Burns and I want to talk Andy Kahan joining me,
longtime colleague, fighting for victim's rights. Andy, I want to
hear about the murder in the first case, the case
(11:11):
where Sylvano Cortez is shot dead in his own bed,
lying there with his wife asleep. Now, this is before
the same guy gets out and kills Somerchester. Thanks to
Natalie Cornelio, the judge tell me about the death of
the first victim. I Nancy, this was a brutal, horrific
(11:33):
dead This is a home invasion that you see on
the news where they're kicking the doors at one forty
five in the morning, and you got Almater fifty five
years old sleeping with his wife and they held him
at gunpoint, and then they shoot and kill him, and
then they shoot another guy that was just simply trying
to go to work. He was actually bara was on
the land. They didn't actually arrest him and his two
(11:53):
accomplices until almost a year later. So he's taken in
the custody. He's charged capital murder, the most egregious offense
that you can charge anyone. It is the only offense
in which a judge actually can have a no bond.
That didn't happen in this case. The judge sets a
(12:16):
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars bond. From our perspective,
it's pretty lowball for capital or murder, but obviously it
was good enough to keep Barr in jail for two
years and then inexplicably, all of the I mean you
lowered the bond. Not only do you lower the bond
to a low ball fifty thousand, he's actually charged with
(12:37):
another felony while he's in oh Andy, Cohn. Please tell
everybody what this guy did behind bars? Jonathan Verr. He's
already home invaded, shot one guy dead in his sleep.
Now he's behind bars, after year walking free, bragging, what
did he do behind bars? So he's one of the
(12:58):
officers evidently approa oshim and he chucked it. Basically, he
chucked his saliva at him, and so he's charged with
harassment of a public servant. He's spent on the he's
spent on the jail keeper. Yet ninety nine pages of
jail infractions documented, and this is the person you deemed
(13:19):
to be a good risk. Will you say that again,
Andy com ninety nine pages? Please say that again? Ninety
nine documented pages of infractions while in custody, and yet
dis judge deemed this person to be a good risk
to lower from two hundred and fifty thousand to an
unheard of fifty thousand per capital murder. Guys, I want
(13:44):
you to take a listen to our cut three, our
friend Randy Wallace at Fox twenty six Houston. That is insane.
That is a two years ago that would have been
aggravated assault bone. One day after Cornelio lowered to respond,
he walked out of jail. Just last week, police say
Vera took another life and is now charged with manslaughter
(14:05):
and the death of summer Chester. The reduction of his
bond from two fifty to fifty led to the result
of killing summer Chester. The judge should be held accountable
right now. They have absolute immunity. They can do whatever
they want because they know no one's going to hold
them accountable. You know you're hearing speaking reporter Randy Wallace
(14:28):
Fox twenty six, but you're also hearing Doug Griffith, the
president of the Houston Police Officers Union, and of course
our friend Andy conn at Crime Stoppers. So he gets
out thanks to the judge and then kills somebody else.
I want to go now to our special guest, doctor
Kendall Crown's chief medical examiner, Fort Worth. Doctor Kendall Crown's
(14:52):
shot in your sleeve, shot lying in your own bed
with your wife. How long does it take before a
victim bleeds out dead? I mean, I wonder a disc
guy in the middle of the night realizes he's dying
right then and there. Well, of course it's going to
(15:13):
depend on where you get hit. But if you're not
hit in the head and involving your brainstem, which could
kill you instantly. Let's say you get hitting the chest.
Even if it's hit in your heart, you're going to
have at least several seconds where you can feel the
pain and bleeding and then you realize you're dying and
you're going to be able to cry out. Also, if
(15:34):
you get hitting your lungs, you're going to be bleeding
into your chest cavity, breathing into your airways, so you're
going to be gasping and coughing up blood and also
be able to realize that you're dying. So, just depending
on where you get hit, it can be instantaneous or
it can take a matter of minutes. The door Kittel Crowns,
has there ever been a point in your life where
(15:55):
you thought you were actually dying. Yes, A couple of times.
My there held me underwater until I had in hail
water and I thought it was going to drowned. It
wasn't a pleasant experience. That was when you were a kid,
a child, a team. I've had a couple of times.
One was and I was out with my investigator, Earnest,
(16:15):
and we were in one of the worst areas, the
most crime ridden area of Atlanta housing project and I
was trying to serve a subpoena on a guy. It
was about noon, a little before noon, and we went
up to a door and I was directly in front
(16:37):
of the door, and my investigator was standing to my right,
and the sun was bright, so inside the apartment it
was dark, and they had a screen door over the
front door, so I couldn't see in through that. It
was a rusted screen door, and the first thing I
(16:59):
saw was the barrel of a long gun pointed right
at my face, and my investigator shoved me to my left.
I felt I went flying off the porch down about
I don't know, three feet into a bunch of shrubs,
and we immediately he immediately grabbed the guy, and just
(17:24):
so you know, the subpoena was served. Long story short.
In that split second, I guess I thought I'm gonna
get shot. I didn't have time to really think about it.
There was another time, Doctor Kendall Crowns at one of
my sons early early soccer baseball. I just raced across town,
(17:47):
literally raced from work to get there for the game,
and my chest hurts so bad I had to lay
on the ground and my dress up clothes because I
couldn't sit up. Well, I'm having a hard tag. I'm
going to die right here in the dirt. My point is,
doctor Kendall Crowns, I wonder if the victim, Sylvannah Cortez,
(18:11):
was aware his wife was right beside him screaming or crying,
if he knew what was going on around him, if
there were children in the home screaming and crying. I mean,
how long does it take you to die if you're
not shot in the head again, it can take several minutes.
So he would be aware of what's going on around him,
hearing his family screaming, you know, realizing he's probably going
(18:33):
to die. So it is I'm sure not a pleasant experience.
And then doctor Jerry Cross and psychologist's faculties Saint le
On University and author his family for the rest of
their lives, if they stay in that home, every time
they walk through that room that's where dad died. It's
from my husband, It's going to be very traumatic, very traumatic.
(18:56):
I mean, like we know the day a year August six,
I think, well, this day sucks because this is the
day my fiance was martyred, or this is the day
my dad passed away. But they have to walk through
the room every day or look at the front door
that was kicked in. I mean, how do you get
(19:17):
past that jewlry. A lot of families actually moved because
the memory is so intense. Yeah, that they've got to
get out there because it's a reoccurring trauma to them.
I mean, everything in that house is going to remind
them of that incident. At Death Crime Stories with Nancy Grace,
(19:49):
you know, Chris Buyer's joining me. I'm destructed by the
dichotomy of the peaceful sleeping in the home about to
a and the eruption of gunfire somebody kicking the door in.
But Chris, you're the former police chief over twenty five
(20:12):
years now, PI, What did the judge think this guy's
going to do when he gets out after as Andy
con just told us, after murdering someone asleep in their
own bed for a person's cell phone. What does she
judge Natalie Cornelio think that the defendant, Jonathan Vera, was
(20:35):
gonna do when she let him walk ninety nine in
fractions behind bars alone. Yeah. Absolutely. And one thing about
a home invasion, Your home is where you feel safe.
It's it's it's it's where you know your your family
is and you feel like that, you know you're secure
from everything, And to come into somebody's home at that
(20:57):
time of the night to be shot there, I mean,
it just shows just to me a special kind of
evil and to be definitely not what we would Here
is the model prisoner, model inmate with ninety nine infractions.
And believe me, as somebody who's been gearing arrest and
spitting their face probably two dozen times, that's not a
(21:19):
pleasant experience either. Do you ever get spent on, Chris, Yeah,
at least at least two dozen times during my twenty
five years. Okay, I didn't get spit on in all
the years I was a prosecutor or a fed But
can I tell you how many I don't even know
how many times my car got the windows broken in
or the tires slit while I was at the courthouse
(21:39):
trying a case. During one murder trial, somebody stole my
cell phone out of the court room where it was charging.
But I had my car broken into, not to take anything,
just to vandalize me for trying the case. And so
many times I memorized I had memorized the number four.
I think it was doctor Glass and my tire slit
(22:02):
so many times I had memorized the name of somebody
to come helped me change the tire in the middle
of the night if I needed help, you know. That's
that's what I got triple A then when I was
a prosecutor, because I have a tire slit so many times.
Didn't ever get spit on, But I remember I'd come
out of the courtroom after a long day ago, all
(22:24):
the way to where my car was part for cheap,
like eight blocks away and the wind to be broken in.
I'm like, on top of everything else, that much less
getting spit on. I mean, Joory Cross and you're the shrink.
That is like the ultimate insult to remember a defendant
spat on a rape victim. Now I'm glad he did
(22:46):
because I got his DNA that way, But that said,
that's like the ultimate fu. Yeah, that's an invasion of
your person. And this judge let this guy out. Jory
the sense of vulnerability that they can basically hurt you,
they can touch you like that. Okay, he gets out
(23:09):
thanks to Judge Cornelio. I mean, why is she on
the bench in Texas, Andy Cohn, she went to NYU
and University of Chicago. What is she doing on a
Texas bench? What does she know about Texas? You know, Nancy,
we've had a complete makeover of all our judges in
Harris County. So this particular judge was actually a policy
(23:32):
analyst for a county commissioner, and she was instrumental in
our bail reform statute that changed everything in Harris County.
You mean no bail, I mean like letting everybody out
like a revolving door in that reform, pretty much the
revolving door at the courthouse. She was one of the architects. Hey,
(23:52):
you love something out, Andy, And no offense to the
public Defender's office. Everybody winds when they get the public
defender for free. Those people try a lot of cases.
But she was a federal public defender, so that's where
she's coming from. She identified he actually has the most
(24:12):
individuals out on bond of any felony district court judge
in Harris County. And this is not her first dog
and pony show that we've had to go on national
news to talk about. So this is just par for
the course. It's not an anomaly. How on earth do
you justify reducing someone charged with an egregious capital of
(24:33):
murder shooting a homeowner during a home invasion, killing them,
getting charged with another felony in jail ninety nine pages
of infractions? What on earth makes you think this person
is a good risk to rerelease to the public, And
now you've got another young girl that paid the price
for that decision. It defies logic. Speaking of this young girl,
(24:58):
twenty three year old Summrchester, take a listen to crime
online dot com'st Dave matt cut seventeen. Summer Chester has
an accomplished life with plans for an accomplished future. The
twenty three year old graduates from Lone Star College with
an associate's degree of Arts. She attends the University of
Houston and transfers to Texas Southern University as a senior,
(25:20):
majoring in business administration. Chester's ultimate goal is to become
an elementary school teacher. Despite her school schedule, Chester also
works as a customer service agent at best Buy. If
you ask her family, they'll tell you Chester's biggest accomplishment
is life itself. Summer and her friends are on a
quest to discover new and different restaurants. She enjoys playing music, dancing,
(25:42):
loves animals, and is even known for pulling a practical
joke or two. Well, I think of this young girl,
just twenty three. I pulled up her a bit last night,
and she's got a million dollars smile. She had a
million dollars smile before this p o s technical legal
(26:04):
term killed her. Take a listen now to our cut eighteen.
Somerchester died in January this year. The twenty three year
old died in a hit and run car accident caused
by Jonathan Vera, who ran a traffic signal. He is
now charged with manslaughter in the case. So where is
(26:25):
he now? Alexis terrest chick? Before I get to the
one hundred and sixty other cases like this one, Andy
CON's going to tell me about where is he? Jonathan
Vera has Judge Cornelio let him out again. No, he
is actually in jail. Now when is he going to trial?
And once he gonna go to trial for first his
first murder victim or his second manslaughter victim. I believe
(26:47):
he should be charged first for Silvano Cortez's murder since
that was in twenty seventeen and then this one will follow.
Although this is a manslaughter charge and that is a
murder charge, so there. I mean, he should have an
attorney who comes up with a pleadio for one or
the other. Let's talk about Zakias Guestone to you Andy Kahn,
(27:08):
director of Victim Services Avacacy Crimestoppers, who is Layla Steel.
La Sale was a twenty four year old mother who
was involved in a relationship with a defending guest Stone
and was trying to break it off. Guest Stone has
three prior felony convictions. He was also a registered sex offender.
(27:29):
He was out on seven felony bonds by you guessed it,
the three hundred and fifty first District Court judge whom
we've all been talking about today. He was also on
an ankle monitor. Listen to this. He was on bond
for failure to registers and sex offender, assault with intent
to mt breathing which is trying to strangle someone to debt, assault,
(27:52):
evading arrest fell and in possession of a weapon another
evading arrest. And now he's charged with the murder of
twenty four year old Laylist Steel and also shooting one
year old Zeus as well as a matter of fact,
take a listen to Melissa Korea Khou eleven are cut thirteen.
These are the many faces of Zachaeus Gaston, a twenty
(28:14):
seven year old whose criminal record is a decade long.
The Harris County DA's office describes him as a true
habitual offender. Harris County District Court records show Gaston's currently
facing seven different charges for crimes like assault of aiding arrest,
failing to register as a sex offender, and a felon
in possession of a weapon. Prosecutors have repeatedly asked the
(28:36):
courts to refuse bail, but even after reviewing public safety
assessments and all of the pending felony cases, magistrates continue
to set bail. In some cases, record show it's the
same magistrate then on Thursday, with a suspect having being
out on bond for seven major felonies, this could have
(28:59):
been prevented. Layla's Steele was shot four times while she
was carrying her son. Police say baby Zeus was shot
once in his leg during an argument between Layla and
Zeus's father, Schaius Gaston. Layla died at a hospital now
listen are cut. Fourteen port documents showed the steps prosecutors
took to try and protect Layla. They asked for a
(29:21):
protective order and an ankle monitor that would include geo
fencing to prevent Gaston from going near Leyla's apartment. And
even though the court acknowledges Gaston's past and threats he
made to Layla, a magistrate still set bail at thirty
thousand dollars. In April, the Harris County DA petitioned to
have Gaston's bond revoked because he continued to harass Layla.
(29:44):
A court decision is still pending. The motion was filed
April fifth, nearly three months before Layla's Steele was killed.
There's no way that that should have slipped. Where seven
felony bonds, A person was out and I feel like
my sister's blood is on their hands. You know where's
achas gassed in? Is called police. He's now facing a
murder charge in addition to several other crimes crime stories
(30:20):
with Nancy Grace Andy Khan. How did he get out?
It's the revolving door at the courthouse. This is what
I call another victim of a Harris county bond pandemic.
I have now documented one hundred and sixty people who
have been killed by defendants released on multiple felony bonds
(30:42):
in the last few years. That's one hundred and sixty
people who were tragically killed. Yet it was so utterly
preventable because we keep spitting the same people out time
and time again. Who is Andy karn DeVante William Davanta?
Oh my god, this one really really chat me. I
(31:03):
mean Davanta. Williams is out on multiple felony bobs. He
has multiple prior convictions. He's been the prison several times.
So there's a police chase because he's wanted for two
aggravator robberies. And during the police chase, a horrific accident
and it costs the life of a mother. Twenty four
year old mother, Audrey Davis, died in the accident. Now,
(31:27):
Williams was out on multiple bonds. Now gets this. He
was out on two separate aggravator to assault with a
deadly weapon bonds. But here's the real rub of why
I was so irate with this. His bonds were revoked
as they should be, because it should be one bond
per customer. You're out on bond and you get charged
with a new case. You shouldn't be back out on
(31:50):
bond again. Those days are long over. So the bond
was originally eighty thousand, the judge reinstates the bond and
lowers it from forty to ten, and then on the
other agassault with a deadly weapon, it gets lowered from
forty to five. I have never seen a bond lowered
after you've already been revoked. That decision costs a twenty
(32:13):
four year old mother for life. Take a listen hour
cut five Fox twenty six. Twenty seven year old Davante
Williams violated his bond for aggravated assault with a deadly
weapon by picking up another aggravated assault with a deadly
weapon charge. His bond was revoked. But get this. Instead
of reinstating his bond with a higher amount, three hundred
(32:35):
and thirty seventh Colonel District Court Judge Colleen Guido lowered
it go from forty thousand to five thousand. So he's
out now on a ten and a five when he
originally had an eighty and a forty. What makes that
even more troubling is what a magistrate told the court
about Williams three arrust for aggravated cases. Quote, it's impossible
(32:59):
to bond conditions that could reasonably assure community's safety due
to the randomness of each act. Last Wednesday, Williams led
a deputy on a chase that turned deadly. Now you
have you know, you have a deputy sheriff that was
in the hospital injured. You have a mother of pooh dead.
I got a question, you know. First to you, doctor
(33:22):
Kimdall Crowns. We're talking about all these victims that are
killed by purps, that are released over and over and over.
But these are not just statistics, they're not just stories.
These are real people that end up in your morgue.
I mean, do you ever feel like there's no stopping it? Yeah,
(33:47):
sometimes it does seem like there's no insight. Now, always
find it interesting, one, individuals who obviously have violent tendencies,
who are already arrested and put in gail for something
and not necessarily convicted of it, yet are allowed to
be released, especially in these domestic situations, because you know,
(34:08):
these pieces of paper aren't going to protect someone from
someone who's already violent, and it's not like they're going
to follow the rules, So I always wonder why that's done,
because it does increase the amount of debt that come
through the morgue, you know, Chris Buyer's form police Chief,
John's Creek now PI and polygrapher Chris Buyers. I remember
(34:30):
so many times getting a case to prepare for trial,
typically a murder or a rape, and I would open
the jacket, which is the file, and at the back
of all the police reports and supplementals and crime WIB
reports and toxicology and all that would be the rash
sheet and it would be a mile long. Now for me,
(34:54):
it would just make me more angry, But for some
people it's debilitating because you feel overwhelm. It's like why bother? Yeah,
absolutely absolutely. I mean I can't tell you how many times,
whether it was when I was on DUIs passports or something,
I'd stopped somebody with like rest of them for DUI
(35:16):
and they have ten twelve DUIs on the record, And
of course DUI is minor compared to what we're talking to.
We're talking about lives here that we're you know, basically
when we talk about that one lady that was killed,
the guy that had like seven felonies on him. I mean, basically,
three thousand dollars is what the price was put on
her life. And yeah, I mean you just see it
(35:36):
over and over. It's you know, ten percent of the
people that are doing ninety percent of the crime senior communities.
And it's very rare that you arrest somebody with for
a very violent crime that it's their first time out.
There's usually that rap sheeting. You wonder, how are we
even still here on the street talking And you, Doug Burnus,
former federal prosecutor, when you look at the rap sheet,
(36:00):
what do you What are the judges think this guy's
going to do when they have all these felonies, ninety
nine pages of jailhouse infractions? What was she Judge Cornelia's
thinking when she led him out? Then he was going
to show up at Sunday school the next morning. Now
(36:20):
you heard the context of this. This is a person
who has the whole ideological background of bail reform and
so on, and now she's on the bench. What I
can bring to the table is, in thirty five plus years,
I've never heard of a situation where somebody's bond is
revoked for committing another offense and then boom, it's lowered.
I've never heard of that, so obviously this is an
(36:42):
allier situation. You know, I would normally be reluctant to
use the term rogue, but I'll use it unhesitatingly. Rogue
judge to make these type of decisions. It's really disgraceful
and I'm just again I'm glad you're bringing it to
the forefront with this pound, doctor Jerry Craws enjoining me
psychologists faculties Leo University, consultant with the Blue Wall Institute.
(37:03):
It's got to be demoralizing for police officers because they
put the same people behind bars over and over and over.
It's like a joke. Yeah, it is a joke. It's
a force to the criminal justice system. You know, there's
so many safeguards that have been built into the system
over the years, and it appears that she's abandoned them.
(37:26):
You know, like here in Florida, we have risk assessments
that are done on violence of senators and can be
offered in mind hearings, you know, so the judge knows
what's the chances of them repeating. Well, I mean, I'm
glad that you have that there, doctor Joy, But I
mean when I look at somebody's rap sheet. I don't
need a risk assessment to tell me when they've gotten
(37:48):
ninety nine infractions behind bars. They've got a rap sheet
as long as I seventy five. When you don't know
a horse, look at his track record. It's really just
that simple. Sure, if you want to predict past behavior
is violent and aggressive, deadly. This is a case that
has me very, very upset because it reminds me of
(38:11):
my mother. Take a listen to our cut six sin
is Micah Hatfield with Katie Rk ABC thirteen. My mom
was eighty years old. She was disabled, you know, she
shuffled with the cane, and she's the prototypical grandmother, you know,
reading glasses down on her nose, knitting needles by the
(38:32):
side of a rocking chair, A mother of three, grandmother
of six. Rosalie Cook was three minutes from home at
Walgreen's and guest in South Bray's Wood Boulevard to buy
a card one year ago. As she headed towards her
car in the parking lot to go home, Rosalie was
stabbed to death by Randy Lewis. The system failed my
(38:52):
mom in a number of ways. Lewis was what's often
referred to as a career criminal. The thirty eight year
old had been arrested sixty seven times and was out
on two personal recognisance bonds in Harris County. Court records
show he was released from an extended stay at a
mental health facility to a group home on May first.
(39:12):
On May fifteenth is when Rosalie was killed. When police responded,
officers shot and killed Lewis. I'm going to do something
that I was disallowed to do at trial when I
would argue to a jury enclosing argument. Think about these cases.
Think about twenty three year old Somerchester, her whole life
(39:35):
in front of her. What if that was your daughter?
Think about Sylvana Cortez. What if that was your husband
or your wife lying in bed next to you and
you hear splintering of the door and then gunshots and
then suddlely, your spouse is dead. Just like that. About
(40:00):
this young mom who goes over and over trying to
get protection from an abuser, and he keeps getting out
of jail, and now she's dead. And finally this grandma
eighty years old going to Walgreen's to buy a card,
stabbed dead by a career criminal that some judge let go.
(40:27):
Judge Natalia Cornelio, I pray to God you're listening. Goodbye, friend,
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. How does a killer get
set free by a judge who should know better, only
to kill again? And nobody seems to have noticed. But
(00:27):
guess what we have I Nancy Grace, this is Crime Stories.
Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation
and series XEM one eleven, and I am talking to you,
Judge Natalia Cornelio. Judge Natalia Cornelio, you're the reason that
(00:53):
Summer Chester is dead because you let her killer from
behind bars after police catch him following a deadly home invasion.
They get him behind bars, you let him out and
guess what, it ain't her first trip to the rodeo.
(01:13):
She's done it before. Again. Thank you for being with
us here at Fox Station. In series M one eleven,
take Less to our Frisday kp RC two. I want
to show you something right off the bat that we notice.
Take a look at the front door. It is riddled
with bullet holes. Police still trying to figure out if
the shooting happened outside or inside the home. We know
(01:34):
that the man who died, the fifty five year old man,
did die inside the home. A lot of moving parts
to this investigation still ongoing. Let's take a look at
the video. Police say this happened around one fifty this morning.
Three men came up to this house, forced their way in.
There was some sort of altercation or fight. Then shocks
rang out and one man was hitting the torso, the
(01:57):
other man hitting the leg. Both of those men if
at this home. The man who was hit in the leg,
in fact, police say, was on his way to work.
He is recovering at Benab. The man hit in the torso,
the fifty five year old man, died here at the scene. Now,
the three suspects, they were able to get away with
a cell phone, a purse, and some cash. And then
(02:18):
we don't know why they wanted those things, but that
is why. That is what they got away with. A
home invasion, leaving two men shot, one dead, over a
cell phone, a purse, and some cash that was in
the purse. A home invasion nearly two a m. In
the morning. It seems like a horror movie. But why
(02:40):
why did this judge? She's got a New York University, Okay,
I went there NYU Baxter's degree. Then she goes to
law school and University of Chicago, great schools. So what
went wrong with me? An All Star Panel to figure
out what the hay is going on. First of all,
(03:00):
former federal prosecutor, high profile lawyer off and on TV.
You can see him practically everywhere. Douglas Burns. Doug Burns,
and it's in his blood. His father was the US
Attorney General as well in that jurisdiction. Doctor Jorry Crawsen
joining US faculty Saint Leo University, psychologist, author of operations,
(03:26):
Chris Buyer's former police chief John's Creek, Georgia, twenty five
years on the force, now PI and polygrapher at Chris
Buyer's Investigations and polygraph dot Com. Doctor Kendall Crowns, the
chief medical Examiner Charrant County. That's in Fort Worth. Lecturer
University Texas and Texas A and M. He's also at
(03:49):
the University of Texas Medical School. I could go on
and on about doctor Kendall Crowns. But doctor Kendall Crowns,
aren't you turne of seeing all these dead bodies piling
up in your office? This went down in Texas. Kendall Crowns,
your backyard with me a very special guest, longtime colleague,
(04:10):
and I consider a friend. Andy Cohn director of Victims
Services and Advocacy Crime Stoppers of Houston. Andy has been
fighting the good fight as long as I've known him.
But first to Alexis Terreschu, Crimealine dot Com investigative reporter, Alexis,
(04:31):
I don't get it. So this guy home invades, murders
somebody for a cell phone in a pocketbook, and then
this judge, Natalie Cornelio, let's have walk. Then he kills
somebody else, Summer Chester. Let's see, Summer's just twenty three
years old. Who is this guy Jonathan Vera, So he
(04:53):
was twenty years old, not a teenager. Twenty years old
when he and two other men first into the home
of a man named Silvano Quartet. Now Silvano and his
wife were in bed. This is one fifty in the
morning day. How'd a gentleman who was staying with them?
He was leaving the house. He was going to work
and he worked for a late or an early morning shift. Alexis,
(05:14):
I'm sure I've told you about my dad working on
the railroad Norfolk Southern for the longest time. He did
what they call the mobile route because they went through
a lot of layoffs and my dad got they had
one job for him, Alexis was the mobile route, which
means he would drive sometimes three or four hours to
(05:35):
get to work wherever they needed him throughout the Southeast
for that day. One day he might drive an hour
to work, the next day four hours, the next day
thirty minutes, depending on That's the only way he'd keep
his job at Norfolk Southern with a wife who was
then a bank teller, and three children. So one night
(05:56):
my dad would go to work at eleven pm. Next
day you might go to work at three. So I
get it. Somebody is up going to work at what
was at one fifty A m Alexis, Yes, one fifty
am leaves the house like is walking out the front
door to go to work and is ambushed by three
men with guns and so they shove him back in
(06:18):
the house. They go in the master bedroom, they grat
and that this is where mister Cortez and his wife
are sleeping in their bed. They hold them at gunpoint.
So these to this couple is you know, in their
pajamas in bed in the middle of the night, and
they're being held at gunpoint. And these guys are running
around the house, ransacking the house looking for things and
all they get to the person cell phone and some cash.
(06:40):
Now it sounds like they're in your house right now,
go ahead. They don't leave with the stuff and just
say by guys there. They end up opening fire. The
people in the home did not have guns. They were
not shooting to descend themselves. These people were just shot
by the folks that broke into the home. So Sylvano
shot in his bed, and then as the other man
(07:01):
is leaving the house, it appears that the three guys
outside turned fire back into the house. So they were
already gone and nobody was shooting at them, and they
turned back around and shoot at the guy who had
been reading for work. Take a listen to our cut
to This is Randy Wallace Fox. Twenty six. Police say
twenty year old Jonathan Vira and two other men killed
(07:22):
Solvano Cortez during a home invasion in the greens Point area,
held the homeowner and his wife at gunpoint, ransacked the home,
and then ended up killing a fifty five year old
homeowner and then shooting another suton shooting another person while
they were fleeing the scene. Then, seventeen year old Jonathan
Vira was charged with capital murder. His bond was set
(07:45):
at two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He was actually
in Harris Kenner jail for at least two plus years,
and while he was in county jail, he also was
charged with another felony by harassment of a public servant
three hundred and fifty First Criminal District Court. Judge Natalia
Cornelio Lord, there is bond three fifty First District Court.
(08:09):
I mean lowered it to what I've never seen in
my career. Fifty thousand dollars for capital murder. Wow, okay,
when you hear fifty thousand dollars is the bond to you?
Former federal prosecutor, high profile lawyer Doug Burns. We all
know when we hear fifty thousand dollars bond, you don't
(08:30):
put up fifty thousand, You don't more, you don't take
a lean on your home, You don't rush to the
bank for a fifty grand loan. You put up ten
percent of that five thousand dollars. Exactly right. You put
up five thousand dollars with a bail bondsman, PaperWorks filled down,
and you're released and real quick. Fifty thousand dollars reduction
on a capital offense is absolutely absurd and it's horrific
(08:54):
what happened. And again, I'm just glad that you're calling
this church to account because this kind about, no question
about it, nothing crime stories with Nancy Grace, you know, Doug,
(09:16):
another thing about bill bond. For instance, if you go
to any jail, and I don't advise it. I've been
in way too many jails. All around the jail, all
around the jail's crop up bond companies, bonding companies because
you know, let's just pretend your son gets a DUI
(09:38):
ve vehicular homicide. You've never had any contact with the
justice system at all. You got to bond him out,
and right by the jail you see triple A bonding.
You walk in, you give them the arrest report, and
they can take collateral f since they may take a
(10:01):
lane against your home very often to get that five grand.
You don't even have to put up five grand. How
does it work? Doug Burns simply put, Yeah, I'm making
a really great point, of course, which is that when
you go to local courthouses, you know, in state court,
for example, here in New York, you see signs and
offices for bonding companies all over the place. They're incentivized,
obviously to do business, and as you say, they take
(10:24):
a small percentage, because if you want to look at
it from a statistical point of view, you know generally
those who fully you know, are in the minority. But
this case, by the way, real quick, is not about
risk of flight. This is about danger to the community.
That's a very important point. You keep people detained pre
trial for two reasons, One because they may not reappear
in court, but two ten times more importantly in a
(10:46):
violent crime case, Nancy, so they don't hurt somebody else, obviously, Exactly,
Doug Burns, Exactly, you're preaching to the choir right now.
Burns and I want to talk Andy Kahan joining me,
longtime colleague, fighting for victim's rights. Andy, I want to
hear about the murder in the first case, the case
(11:11):
where Sylvano Cortez is shot dead in his own bed,
lying there with his wife asleep. Now, this is before
the same guy gets out and kills Somerchester. Thanks to
Natalie Cornelio, the judge tell me about the death of
the first victim. I Nancy, this was a brutal, horrific
(11:33):
dead This is a home invasion that you see on
the news where they're kicking the doors at one forty
five in the morning, and you got Almater fifty five
years old sleeping with his wife and they held him
at gunpoint, and then they shoot and kill him, and
then they shoot another guy that was just simply trying
to go to work. He was actually bara was on
the land. They didn't actually arrest him and his two
(11:53):
accomplices until almost a year later. So he's taken in
the custody. He's charged capital murder, the most egregious offense
that you can charge anyone. It is the only offense
in which a judge actually can have a no bond.
That didn't happen in this case. The judge sets a
(12:16):
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars bond. From our perspective,
it's pretty lowball for capital or murder, but obviously it
was good enough to keep Barr in jail for two
years and then inexplicably, all of the I mean you
lowered the bond. Not only do you lower the bond
to a low ball fifty thousand, he's actually charged with
(12:37):
another felony while he's in oh Andy, Cohn. Please tell
everybody what this guy did behind bars? Jonathan Verr. He's
already home invaded, shot one guy dead in his sleep.
Now he's behind bars, after year walking free, bragging, what
did he do behind bars? So he's one of the
(12:58):
officers evidently approa oshim and he chucked it. Basically, he
chucked his saliva at him, and so he's charged with
harassment of a public servant. He's spent on the he's
spent on the jail keeper. Yet ninety nine pages of
jail infractions documented, and this is the person you deemed
(13:19):
to be a good risk. Will you say that again,
Andy com ninety nine pages? Please say that again? Ninety
nine documented pages of infractions while in custody, and yet
dis judge deemed this person to be a good risk
to lower from two hundred and fifty thousand to an
unheard of fifty thousand per capital murder. Guys, I want
(13:44):
you to take a listen to our cut three, our
friend Randy Wallace at Fox twenty six Houston. That is insane.
That is a two years ago that would have been
aggravated assault bone. One day after Cornelio lowered to respond,
he walked out of jail. Just last week, police say
Vera took another life and is now charged with manslaughter
(14:05):
and the death of summer Chester. The reduction of his
bond from two fifty to fifty led to the result
of killing summer Chester. The judge should be held accountable
right now. They have absolute immunity. They can do whatever
they want because they know no one's going to hold
them accountable. You know you're hearing speaking reporter Randy Wallace
(14:28):
Fox twenty six, but you're also hearing Doug Griffith, the
president of the Houston Police Officers Union, and of course
our friend Andy conn at Crime Stoppers. So he gets
out thanks to the judge and then kills somebody else.
I want to go now to our special guest, doctor
Kendall Crown's chief medical examiner, Fort Worth. Doctor Kendall Crown's
(14:52):
shot in your sleeve, shot lying in your own bed
with your wife. How long does it take before a
victim bleeds out dead? I mean, I wonder a disc
guy in the middle of the night realizes he's dying
right then and there. Well, of course it's going to
(15:13):
depend on where you get hit. But if you're not
hit in the head and involving your brainstem, which could
kill you instantly. Let's say you get hitting the chest.
Even if it's hit in your heart, you're going to
have at least several seconds where you can feel the
pain and bleeding and then you realize you're dying and
you're going to be able to cry out. Also, if
(15:34):
you get hitting your lungs, you're going to be bleeding
into your chest cavity, breathing into your airways, so you're
going to be gasping and coughing up blood and also
be able to realize that you're dying. So, just depending
on where you get hit, it can be instantaneous or
it can take a matter of minutes. The door Kittel Crowns,
has there ever been a point in your life where
(15:55):
you thought you were actually dying. Yes, A couple of times.
My there held me underwater until I had in hail
water and I thought it was going to drowned. It
wasn't a pleasant experience. That was when you were a kid,
a child, a team. I've had a couple of times.
One was and I was out with my investigator, Earnest,
(16:15):
and we were in one of the worst areas, the
most crime ridden area of Atlanta housing project and I
was trying to serve a subpoena on a guy. It
was about noon, a little before noon, and we went
up to a door and I was directly in front
(16:37):
of the door, and my investigator was standing to my right,
and the sun was bright, so inside the apartment it
was dark, and they had a screen door over the
front door, so I couldn't see in through that. It
was a rusted screen door, and the first thing I
(16:59):
saw was the barrel of a long gun pointed right
at my face, and my investigator shoved me to my left.
I felt I went flying off the porch down about
I don't know, three feet into a bunch of shrubs,
and we immediately he immediately grabbed the guy, and just
(17:24):
so you know, the subpoena was served. Long story short.
In that split second, I guess I thought I'm gonna
get shot. I didn't have time to really think about it.
There was another time, Doctor Kendall Crowns at one of
my sons early early soccer baseball. I just raced across town,
(17:47):
literally raced from work to get there for the game,
and my chest hurts so bad I had to lay
on the ground and my dress up clothes because I
couldn't sit up. Well, I'm having a hard tag. I'm
going to die right here in the dirt. My point is,
doctor Kendall Crowns, I wonder if the victim, Sylvannah Cortez,
(18:11):
was aware his wife was right beside him screaming or crying,
if he knew what was going on around him, if
there were children in the home screaming and crying. I mean,
how long does it take you to die if you're
not shot in the head again, it can take several minutes.
So he would be aware of what's going on around him,
hearing his family screaming, you know, realizing he's probably going
(18:33):
to die. So it is I'm sure not a pleasant experience.
And then doctor Jerry Cross and psychologist's faculties Saint le
On University and author his family for the rest of
their lives, if they stay in that home, every time
they walk through that room that's where dad died. It's
from my husband, It's going to be very traumatic, very traumatic.
(18:56):
I mean, like we know the day a year August six,
I think, well, this day sucks because this is the
day my fiance was martyred, or this is the day
my dad passed away. But they have to walk through
the room every day or look at the front door
that was kicked in. I mean, how do you get
(19:17):
past that jewlry. A lot of families actually moved because
the memory is so intense. Yeah, that they've got to
get out there because it's a reoccurring trauma to them.
I mean, everything in that house is going to remind
them of that incident. At Death Crime Stories with Nancy Grace,
(19:49):
you know, Chris Buyer's joining me. I'm destructed by the
dichotomy of the peaceful sleeping in the home about to
a and the eruption of gunfire somebody kicking the door in.
But Chris, you're the former police chief over twenty five
(20:12):
years now, PI, What did the judge think this guy's
going to do when he gets out after as Andy
con just told us, after murdering someone asleep in their
own bed for a person's cell phone. What does she
judge Natalie Cornelio think that the defendant, Jonathan Vera, was
(20:35):
gonna do when she let him walk ninety nine in
fractions behind bars alone. Yeah. Absolutely. And one thing about
a home invasion, Your home is where you feel safe.
It's it's it's it's where you know your your family
is and you feel like that, you know you're secure
from everything, And to come into somebody's home at that
(20:57):
time of the night to be shot there, I mean,
it just shows just to me a special kind of
evil and to be definitely not what we would Here
is the model prisoner, model inmate with ninety nine infractions.
And believe me, as somebody who's been gearing arrest and
spitting their face probably two dozen times, that's not a
(21:19):
pleasant experience either. Do you ever get spent on, Chris, Yeah,
at least at least two dozen times during my twenty
five years. Okay, I didn't get spit on in all
the years I was a prosecutor or a fed But
can I tell you how many I don't even know
how many times my car got the windows broken in
or the tires slit while I was at the courthouse
(21:39):
trying a case. During one murder trial, somebody stole my
cell phone out of the court room where it was charging.
But I had my car broken into, not to take anything,
just to vandalize me for trying the case. And so
many times I memorized I had memorized the number four.
I think it was doctor Glass and my tire slit
(22:02):
so many times I had memorized the name of somebody
to come helped me change the tire in the middle
of the night if I needed help, you know. That's
that's what I got triple A then when I was
a prosecutor, because I have a tire slit so many times.
Didn't ever get spit on, But I remember I'd come
out of the courtroom after a long day ago, all
(22:24):
the way to where my car was part for cheap,
like eight blocks away and the wind to be broken in.
I'm like, on top of everything else, that much less
getting spit on. I mean, Joory Cross and you're the shrink.
That is like the ultimate insult to remember a defendant
spat on a rape victim. Now I'm glad he did
(22:46):
because I got his DNA that way, But that said,
that's like the ultimate fu. Yeah, that's an invasion of
your person. And this judge let this guy out. Jory
the sense of vulnerability that they can basically hurt you,
they can touch you like that. Okay, he gets out
(23:09):
thanks to Judge Cornelio. I mean, why is she on
the bench in Texas, Andy Cohn, she went to NYU
and University of Chicago. What is she doing on a
Texas bench? What does she know about Texas? You know, Nancy,
we've had a complete makeover of all our judges in
Harris County. So this particular judge was actually a policy
(23:32):
analyst for a county commissioner, and she was instrumental in
our bail reform statute that changed everything in Harris County.
You mean no bail, I mean like letting everybody out
like a revolving door in that reform, pretty much the
revolving door at the courthouse. She was one of the architects. Hey,
(23:52):
you love something out, Andy, And no offense to the
public Defender's office. Everybody winds when they get the public
defender for free. Those people try a lot of cases.
But she was a federal public defender, so that's where
she's coming from. She identified he actually has the most
(24:12):
individuals out on bond of any felony district court judge
in Harris County. And this is not her first dog
and pony show that we've had to go on national
news to talk about. So this is just par for
the course. It's not an anomaly. How on earth do
you justify reducing someone charged with an egregious capital of
(24:33):
murder shooting a homeowner during a home invasion, killing them,
getting charged with another felony in jail ninety nine pages
of infractions? What on earth makes you think this person
is a good risk to rerelease to the public, And
now you've got another young girl that paid the price
for that decision. It defies logic. Speaking of this young girl,
(24:58):
twenty three year old Summrchester, take a listen to crime
online dot com'st Dave matt cut seventeen. Summer Chester has
an accomplished life with plans for an accomplished future. The
twenty three year old graduates from Lone Star College with
an associate's degree of Arts. She attends the University of
Houston and transfers to Texas Southern University as a senior,
(25:20):
majoring in business administration. Chester's ultimate goal is to become
an elementary school teacher. Despite her school schedule, Chester also
works as a customer service agent at best Buy. If
you ask her family, they'll tell you Chester's biggest accomplishment
is life itself. Summer and her friends are on a
quest to discover new and different restaurants. She enjoys playing music, dancing,
(25:42):
loves animals, and is even known for pulling a practical
joke or two. Well, I think of this young girl,
just twenty three. I pulled up her a bit last night,
and she's got a million dollars smile. She had a
million dollars smile before this p o s technical legal
(26:04):
term killed her. Take a listen now to our cut eighteen.
Somerchester died in January this year. The twenty three year
old died in a hit and run car accident caused
by Jonathan Vera, who ran a traffic signal. He is
now charged with manslaughter in the case. So where is
(26:25):
he now? Alexis terrest chick? Before I get to the
one hundred and sixty other cases like this one, Andy
CON's going to tell me about where is he? Jonathan
Vera has Judge Cornelio let him out again. No, he
is actually in jail. Now when is he going to trial?
And once he gonna go to trial for first his
first murder victim or his second manslaughter victim. I believe
(26:47):
he should be charged first for Silvano Cortez's murder since
that was in twenty seventeen and then this one will follow.
Although this is a manslaughter charge and that is a
murder charge, so there. I mean, he should have an
attorney who comes up with a pleadio for one or
the other. Let's talk about Zakias Guestone to you Andy Kahn,
(27:08):
director of Victim Services Avacacy Crimestoppers, who is Layla Steel.
La Sale was a twenty four year old mother who
was involved in a relationship with a defending guest Stone
and was trying to break it off. Guest Stone has
three prior felony convictions. He was also a registered sex offender.
(27:29):
He was out on seven felony bonds by you guessed it,
the three hundred and fifty first District Court judge whom
we've all been talking about today. He was also on
an ankle monitor. Listen to this. He was on bond
for failure to registers and sex offender, assault with intent
to mt breathing which is trying to strangle someone to debt, assault,
(27:52):
evading arrest fell and in possession of a weapon another
evading arrest. And now he's charged with the murder of
twenty four year old Laylist Steel and also shooting one
year old Zeus as well as a matter of fact,
take a listen to Melissa Korea Khou eleven are cut thirteen.
These are the many faces of Zachaeus Gaston, a twenty
(28:14):
seven year old whose criminal record is a decade long.
The Harris County DA's office describes him as a true
habitual offender. Harris County District Court records show Gaston's currently
facing seven different charges for crimes like assault of aiding arrest,
failing to register as a sex offender, and a felon
in possession of a weapon. Prosecutors have repeatedly asked the
(28:36):
courts to refuse bail, but even after reviewing public safety
assessments and all of the pending felony cases, magistrates continue
to set bail. In some cases, record show it's the
same magistrate then on Thursday, with a suspect having being
out on bond for seven major felonies, this could have
(28:59):
been prevented. Layla's Steele was shot four times while she
was carrying her son. Police say baby Zeus was shot
once in his leg during an argument between Layla and
Zeus's father, Schaius Gaston. Layla died at a hospital now
listen are cut. Fourteen port documents showed the steps prosecutors
took to try and protect Layla. They asked for a
(29:21):
protective order and an ankle monitor that would include geo
fencing to prevent Gaston from going near Leyla's apartment. And
even though the court acknowledges Gaston's past and threats he
made to Layla, a magistrate still set bail at thirty
thousand dollars. In April, the Harris County DA petitioned to
have Gaston's bond revoked because he continued to harass Layla.
(29:44):
A court decision is still pending. The motion was filed
April fifth, nearly three months before Layla's Steele was killed.
There's no way that that should have slipped. Where seven
felony bonds, A person was out and I feel like
my sister's blood is on their hands. You know where's
achas gassed in? Is called police. He's now facing a
murder charge in addition to several other crimes crime stories
(30:20):
with Nancy Grace Andy Khan. How did he get out?
It's the revolving door at the courthouse. This is what
I call another victim of a Harris county bond pandemic.
I have now documented one hundred and sixty people who
have been killed by defendants released on multiple felony bonds
(30:42):
in the last few years. That's one hundred and sixty
people who were tragically killed. Yet it was so utterly
preventable because we keep spitting the same people out time
and time again. Who is Andy karn DeVante William Davanta?
Oh my god, this one really really chat me. I
(31:03):
mean Davanta. Williams is out on multiple felony bobs. He
has multiple prior convictions. He's been the prison several times.
So there's a police chase because he's wanted for two
aggravator robberies. And during the police chase, a horrific accident
and it costs the life of a mother. Twenty four
year old mother, Audrey Davis, died in the accident. Now,
(31:27):
Williams was out on multiple bonds. Now gets this. He
was out on two separate aggravator to assault with a
deadly weapon bonds. But here's the real rub of why
I was so irate with this. His bonds were revoked
as they should be, because it should be one bond
per customer. You're out on bond and you get charged
with a new case. You shouldn't be back out on
(31:50):
bond again. Those days are long over. So the bond
was originally eighty thousand, the judge reinstates the bond and
lowers it from forty to ten, and then on the
other agassault with a deadly weapon, it gets lowered from
forty to five. I have never seen a bond lowered
after you've already been revoked. That decision costs a twenty
(32:13):
four year old mother for life. Take a listen hour
cut five Fox twenty six. Twenty seven year old Davante
Williams violated his bond for aggravated assault with a deadly
weapon by picking up another aggravated assault with a deadly
weapon charge. His bond was revoked. But get this. Instead
of reinstating his bond with a higher amount, three hundred
(32:35):
and thirty seventh Colonel District Court Judge Colleen Guido lowered
it go from forty thousand to five thousand. So he's
out now on a ten and a five when he
originally had an eighty and a forty. What makes that
even more troubling is what a magistrate told the court
about Williams three arrust for aggravated cases. Quote, it's impossible
(32:59):
to bond conditions that could reasonably assure community's safety due
to the randomness of each act. Last Wednesday, Williams led
a deputy on a chase that turned deadly. Now you
have you know, you have a deputy sheriff that was
in the hospital injured. You have a mother of pooh dead.
I got a question, you know. First to you, doctor
(33:22):
Kimdall Crowns. We're talking about all these victims that are
killed by purps, that are released over and over and over.
But these are not just statistics, they're not just stories.
These are real people that end up in your morgue.
I mean, do you ever feel like there's no stopping it? Yeah,
(33:47):
sometimes it does seem like there's no insight. Now, always
find it interesting, one, individuals who obviously have violent tendencies,
who are already arrested and put in gail for something
and not necessarily convicted of it, yet are allowed to
be released, especially in these domestic situations, because you know,
(34:08):
these pieces of paper aren't going to protect someone from
someone who's already violent, and it's not like they're going
to follow the rules, So I always wonder why that's done,
because it does increase the amount of debt that come
through the morgue, you know, Chris Buyer's form police Chief,
John's Creek now PI and polygrapher Chris Buyers. I remember
(34:30):
so many times getting a case to prepare for trial,
typically a murder or a rape, and I would open
the jacket, which is the file, and at the back
of all the police reports and supplementals and crime WIB
reports and toxicology and all that would be the rash
sheet and it would be a mile long. Now for me,
(34:54):
it would just make me more angry, But for some
people it's debilitating because you feel overwhelm. It's like why bother? Yeah,
absolutely absolutely. I mean I can't tell you how many times,
whether it was when I was on DUIs passports or something,
I'd stopped somebody with like rest of them for DUI
(35:16):
and they have ten twelve DUIs on the record, And
of course DUI is minor compared to what we're talking to.
We're talking about lives here that we're you know, basically
when we talk about that one lady that was killed,
the guy that had like seven felonies on him. I mean, basically,
three thousand dollars is what the price was put on
her life. And yeah, I mean you just see it
(35:36):
over and over. It's you know, ten percent of the
people that are doing ninety percent of the crime senior communities.
And it's very rare that you arrest somebody with for
a very violent crime that it's their first time out.
There's usually that rap sheeting. You wonder, how are we
even still here on the street talking And you, Doug Burnus,
former federal prosecutor, when you look at the rap sheet,
(36:00):
what do you What are the judges think this guy's
going to do when they have all these felonies, ninety
nine pages of jailhouse infractions? What was she Judge Cornelia's
thinking when she led him out? Then he was going
to show up at Sunday school the next morning. Now
(36:20):
you heard the context of this. This is a person
who has the whole ideological background of bail reform and
so on, and now she's on the bench. What I
can bring to the table is, in thirty five plus years,
I've never heard of a situation where somebody's bond is
revoked for committing another offense and then boom, it's lowered.
I've never heard of that, so obviously this is an
(36:42):
allier situation. You know, I would normally be reluctant to
use the term rogue, but I'll use it unhesitatingly. Rogue
judge to make these type of decisions. It's really disgraceful
and I'm just again I'm glad you're bringing it to
the forefront with this pound, doctor Jerry Craws enjoining me
psychologists faculties Leo University, consultant with the Blue Wall Institute.
(37:03):
It's got to be demoralizing for police officers because they
put the same people behind bars over and over and over.
It's like a joke. Yeah, it is a joke. It's
a force to the criminal justice system. You know, there's
so many safeguards that have been built into the system
over the years, and it appears that she's abandoned them.
(37:26):
You know, like here in Florida, we have risk assessments
that are done on violence of senators and can be
offered in mind hearings, you know, so the judge knows
what's the chances of them repeating. Well, I mean, I'm
glad that you have that there, doctor Joy, But I
mean when I look at somebody's rap sheet. I don't
need a risk assessment to tell me when they've gotten
(37:48):
ninety nine infractions behind bars. They've got a rap sheet
as long as I seventy five. When you don't know
a horse, look at his track record. It's really just
that simple. Sure, if you want to predict past behavior
is violent and aggressive, deadly. This is a case that
has me very, very upset because it reminds me of
(38:11):
my mother. Take a listen to our cut six sin
is Micah Hatfield with Katie Rk ABC thirteen. My mom
was eighty years old. She was disabled, you know, she
shuffled with the cane, and she's the prototypical grandmother, you know,
reading glasses down on her nose, knitting needles by the
(38:32):
side of a rocking chair, A mother of three, grandmother
of six. Rosalie Cook was three minutes from home at
Walgreen's and guest in South Bray's Wood Boulevard to buy
a card one year ago. As she headed towards her
car in the parking lot to go home, Rosalie was
stabbed to death by Randy Lewis. The system failed my
(38:52):
mom in a number of ways. Lewis was what's often
referred to as a career criminal. The thirty eight year
old had been arrested sixty seven times and was out
on two personal recognisance bonds in Harris County. Court records
show he was released from an extended stay at a
mental health facility to a group home on May first.
(39:12):
On May fifteenth is when Rosalie was killed. When police responded,
officers shot and killed Lewis. I'm going to do something
that I was disallowed to do at trial when I
would argue to a jury enclosing argument. Think about these cases.
Think about twenty three year old Somerchester, her whole life
(39:35):
in front of her. What if that was your daughter?
Think about Sylvana Cortez. What if that was your husband
or your wife lying in bed next to you and
you hear splintering of the door and then gunshots and
then suddlely, your spouse is dead. Just like that. About
(40:00):
this young mom who goes over and over trying to
get protection from an abuser, and he keeps getting out
of jail, and now she's dead. And finally this grandma
eighty years old going to Walgreen's to buy a card,
stabbed dead by a career criminal that some judge let go.
(40:27):
Judge Natalia Cornelio, I pray to God you're listening. Goodbye, friend,
Host
Nancy Grace
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