Shooting at Texas A&M

[jb2012]

Our court system gets people killed by letting repeat violent offenders back out on the streets.

Far too often. Also proof (many many times over) that restraining orders do not restrain, and the police are minutes away when seconds count.

I'm reading that neither of the women were students at A&M Commerce, curious why they were there with a child, and how the events unfolded to a double homicide inside a dorm.

[carlson1]

Our court system gets people killed by letting repeat violent offenders back out on the streets.

Far too often. Also proof (many many times over) that restraining orders do not restrain, and the police are minutes away when seconds count.

I'm reading that neither of the women were students at A&M Commerce, curious why they were there with a child, and how the events unfolded to a double homicide inside a dorm.

The younger sister was a student there working on her Bachelors. Fox 4 Dallas interviewed someone from the College today and that was what was reported. It was the oldest sisters ex boyfriend who has been charged with the murders.

From NBC 5 News...

The school confirmed Tuesday that Deja was a freshman at the university and was pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Public Health. Neither her sister, Abbaney, or Smith, were enrolled at the school.

[ELB]

The boyfriend is now also facing a capital murder charge in Denton County, after a search of his home showed he and two others are connected to the murder of a man in December.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2 ... in-denton/

[ELB]

...

Ex-Boyfriend Arrested On Capital Murder Charge For Texas A&M University-Commerce Shooting
https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/02/04/ex- ... -commerce/

Smith was arrested last week for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after an incident in which he threw a TV at Deja. But was released on a $15,000 bond despite having violated his probation.

Our court system gets people killed by letting repeat violent offenders back out on the streets.

More detail, and it's even worse (referencing the earlier assault a few days before he killed her):

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2 ... in-denton/

They began to argue, and Smith became violent when Matts asked him to leave. He broke a glass lamp over her head and threw a box fan at her, according to the affidavit.

Matts told police Smith threw a television at her, then body slammed her onto the tile floor in the kitchen, where he repeatedly hit her over the head with a frying pan.

At one point, Smith got on top of Matts, who was still on the floor, and pulled a knife on her and told her he was going to kill her, the affidavit said.

He was arrested that same day after police caught him driving Matts’ car. He told police he took the car “because he helps her pay for it,” according to the affidavit.

Smith was released from jail Jan. 29 after he posted a $15,000 bond.

[chasfm11]

Smith was arrested last week for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after an incident in which he allegedly threw a TV at Deja. But was released on a $15,000 bond despite having violated his probation.

I listened to a video of the Denton Police Chief talking about this. The defense lawyers try to spring their clients on low bail before the criminal histories can be retrieved. How can this be? I thought that the Texas computer system would display instantly all of the prior convictions and the fact that he was on parole. If it cannot, I have to ask why not?

As I understand it,
1. A re-arrest while on parole automatically revokes the parole. I understand that the parole officer on the case might need to be contacted but the subject should be held until that contact is complete
2. A $15,000 bail for a guy with multiple prior agg.assults is an insult to the community. The purpose of bail is supposed to be to make sure that the suspect shows up for trial. As his past history increases, so does his flight risk. So now, there are two more dead women. Why doesn't the judge involved have complicity in their deaths? I get that the suspect did those crimes but he wouldn't have been able to do them if he was still in lock up and I'm guessing that a reasonable bail would have taken a while for him to raise.

[Grayling813]

Why doesn't the judge involved have complicity in their deaths?

Everyone involved from the DA's office to the judge should be held accountable for the tragic death of these two women.

[ELB]

...
2. A $15,000 bail for a guy with multiple prior agg.assults is an insult to the community. ...

As far as I and Google can tell, he does not have multiple prior aggravated assault arrests...just the one that happened a few days before the sisters were killed. Still, given the details of the assault, which presumably could be corroborated to some extent since things got thrown around and broken, $15K seems light.

I wonder if the sister he assaulted thought she could hide from him at her sister's dorm room?

[carlson1]

...
2. A $15,000 bail for a guy with multiple prior agg.assults is an insult to the community. ...

As far as I and Google can tell, he does not have multiple prior aggravated assault arrests...just the one that happened a few days before the sisters were killed. Still, given the details of the assault, which presumably could be corroborated to some extent since things got thrown around and broken, $15K seems light.

I wonder if the sister he assaulted thought she could hide from him at her sister's dorm room?

He was on probation (not for sure why) and when he was arrested. He did as so many other try to do and that is to make bond before his probation is revoked. It is a shame he was not found by the probation office earlier.

[ELB]

If he has previous arrests as an adult they sure aren't showing up in the usual places.

However this story https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/garla ... g/2304721/
says he has arrests for robbery and agg assault "going back four years." He's 21 now, so I suppose they could be juvenile arrests that aren't public info.

[chasfm11]

...
2. A $15,000 bail for a guy with multiple prior agg.assults is an insult to the community. ...

As far as I and Google can tell, he does not have multiple prior aggravated assault arrests...just the one that happened a few days before the sisters were killed. Still, given the details of the assault, which presumably could be corroborated to some extent since things got thrown around and broken, $15K seems light.

I wonder if the sister he assaulted thought she could hide from him at her sister's dorm room?

Here is where I got the prior information
https://www.fox4news.com/news/man-accus ... urder-case

His probation for for agg robberies (my mistake, I remembered them agg assaults). In either case, it seems that the presence or threat of a deadly weapon is the reason for using the term aggravated.

[ELB]

Thanks for the link.

[philip964]

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime ... 11d0ea4527

DA says system failed the two sisters