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State District Court Judge Natalia Cornelio is facing major community pushback after she issued a personal recognizance, or "PR," bond to one Jared Wilson. Wilson pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery in 2022, meaning that he's barred by state law from receiving PR bonds, which require no payment.
Wilson also has a track record of violating the terms of his probation. The Harris County District Attorney's Office has filed motions pointing out that he violated conditions of his release in both June of 2023 and July of 2024.
Though as of publishing, Wilson was back behind bars because of yet another arrest, Judge Cornelio is still being blasted for giving him a PR bond in 2022 when he was charged with aggravated robbery.
Crime victim advocate April Aguirre pointed out that a state law known as the Damon Allen Act would have barred Wilson from receiving that bond and said, "Now you have a judge defying the law and still going in and giving this criminal a second chance to go victimize somebody else."
Aguirre is now pointing to Wilson's case as an example of why we've seen so much crime in recent years. She said, "We're emboldening these criminals; when they don't face the consequences for something they did, and they realize that criminal justice is a joke, then there's no longer that fear element."
She also pointed to this as an example of why elections are so important. She says Judge Cornelio is up for reelection in November of 2026 and she needs to be removed from office.