Photo: The Image Bank RF
Much of the community is outraged following the release of Dremone Francis, the man accused of murdering Harris County Deputy Fernando Esqueda, on a $1 million bond. This just goes to show that there are still radical judges here in Harris County, and they need to go.
Victim Advocate April Aguirre says many of these judges were elected in 2022, and they’ll be up for reelection during next year’s midterms. She said, "We have to ensure that we have candidates on the Republican side, that are going to be opposing the judges, and competing against them for that position."
She also says that we need to take steps to reform our bail laws, so that future radical judges can’t just turn around and start releasing criminals again. She gave her suggestion on how to do that saying, "I believe in having a bail schedule. The bail schedule looks at the severity of the crime, and doesn’t focus so much on the financial abilities of the criminals."
Aguirre added that this case sends a terrible message to the law enforcement community, as well as the family of Deputy Esqueda. But according to her, it also gives the green light to criminals. She says, "For that crime to be committed, and this individual still be given the opportunity to get out is absolutely absurd. It is open season here in Harris County, and the criminals know that."
According to court documents over the last ten years, Francis is the only suspect charged with capital murder of a police officer to be let out on bond. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez even spoke out about this saying, "This is an absolutely terrible message and the family of Deputy Esqueda should 100% be upset, which they are."
According to court documents, a bail has also been set for Ronny Palmer, another suspect in Deputy Esqueda’s murder, though as of publishing, he had not been released.