Carlos Chavez, 28, was already out on bond for four separate felonies—including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon—when he was arrested in connection with the murder of 23-year-old Jadrian Edwards in Houston.
Jadrian Edwards was traveling with his 5-month-old daughter and another unnamed female passenger when a suspected road rage incident occurred on November 7. While his daughter was unharmed, the other passenger sustained injuries and was transported to the hospital. Court documents do not reveal a motive, although police initially suspected road rage. According to traffic camera footage, the unidentified passenger had her arm extended out of the vehicle window for reasons unknown. Chavez is accused of then drawing a firearm and shooting at their vehicle.
Police identified Chavez as the suspect using a combination of license plate information, traffic camera footage, and data from his ankle monitor. He was officially charged with felony murder last Thursday and arrested the following day.
Chavez has an extensive criminal history dating back to 2013, when he was arrested and later convicted of felony cocaine possession. In 2015, he was convicted of misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance in penalty group 3. A year later, he was found guilty of third-degree felony possession of a weapon and sentenced to two years in prison. In 2017, he received another two-year prison sentence for second-degree felony robbery causing bodily injury.
He was arrested again in both 2022 and 2023 for felony possession of a weapon—two of the charges for which he was out on bond. In January 2024, Chavez was arrested on two felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, stemming from a road rage incident.
Despite his previous record, including violent crime with a deadly weapon, Judge Josh Hall of the 232nd District Court set his bond at $30,000 per charge, enabling Chavez to post a total of $60,000 and secure his release in February.
On Tuesday, Chavez was denied bail after the assistant district attorney filed a motion to deny bail based on his extensive criminal history and danger to the community.
While Chavez is just one example of issues within Houston’s bail system, local news regularly reports similar cases.
In September, 23-year-old Alexys Pinto was charged with aggravated assault after allegedly luring her boyfriend to an empty field with the intent to kill him. She reportedly shot him once in the chest and twice in the hands as he blocked her attempt to shoot him in the head. Witnesses say Pinto apologized for “not getting it right the first time.” Allegedly, she has a history of abuse. On November 14, her bond was reduced from $75,000 to just $10,000, allowing her release. She is currently out on bond.
On November 11, three young adults were arrested for locking a 6-year-old boy in a dryer and turning it on. The boy had been crying over losing a bag of chips when the incident occurred. Security footage from the Washateria shows Haven Duncan placing the child into the dryer as the boy struggled to resist. Life Ford then shut the dryer door, and Jaqory Gill inserted money to start the machine. The dryer reportedly spun for approximately one minute before the child was freed.
Duncan was charged with felony child endangerment, with bond set at $70,000. Ford faced the same felony charge, as well as a misdemeanor for interfering with an officer after pushing one during an arrest. Ford’s bond was set at $1,000. Gill was charged with felony child endangerment and misdemeanor evading arrest, with bond set at $30,000. Both Ford and Gill are currently out on bond. All three are scheduled to appear in court in January.
