HOUSTON, Texas — It’s been four months since 29-year-old Eric Starr’s widow, Anastasia, spoke about his killing during an apparent road rage incident.
“I would never wish this upon anybody,” said Starr back in July.
Eric Starr was fatally shot in the chest after investigators say he and a driver he may have side-swiped got into it along Morton Ranch Road near Katy.
22 year-old Dietrich Thomas was arrested days later. He was charged with murder and just recently released on bond.
"We're completely devastated,” said sister Christine Gregerson.
She and Starr’s brother-in-law shared their thoughts with us from their home in Utah.
"It’s a tough pill to swallow knowing that somebody took your family member’s life and gets to walk free,” said Gregerson.
They’re baffled because Thomas was already out on bond at the time of Starr’s murder for an unrelated shooting.
He posted a $40,000 bond back in February after that shooting.
He’s charged with killing Starr in early July while out on bond.
And, just this past weekend, Starr’s family learned Thomas was out again on a $300,000 bond.
"Why was he able to bond out again, after a second shooting within a year?" said brother-in-law Gil Padilla. "I don’t understand it, and neither does the family.”
KHOU political analyst Gerald Treece said every defendant is entitled to a “reasonable” bond under the law with certain conditions.
And there are few exceptions.
"You can’t punish the guy just because he’s been charged with something,” said Treece. "Even if the evidence is overwhelming, because the charge is not a conviction.”
Starr’s family still feels it’s unfair that Thomas gets to enjoy his freedom pending trial while the father’s widow and two young sons deal with his untimely death.
"Their first day of school, their teacher asked them, you know, tell me something good that happened over the summer," said Gregerson. "And their response was “nothing good happened to me, my daddy was killed.”
Bail reform has been a hot topic here in Harris County after a number of cases like this.
Sheriff Ed Gonzalez sent a statement regarding Dietrich Thomas:
"The cash bail system that endangers the public safety by setting free violent suspects who can afford to pay while non-violent criminal defendants languish in jail must be fixed. We must continue to rethink our current pretrial detention system, move toward a research-based, intentional system of bail and move away from a money bail system which only takes into consideration ability to pay. This takes time, as it may mean big changes to state law and possibly our Texas constitution. In a model bail system, such a person would likely be held without bail."
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