Two men arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a Texas deputy had been out on bond at the time for separate murder cases, Click2Houston reports.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Harris County Precinct 3 Deputy Constable Deputy Omar Ursin was shot around 6:30 p.m. on August 28 while he was driving his personal vehicle in Atascocita, near Houston.
Ursin, who was heading home with dinner for his family, subsequently struck a tree in the roadway’s median and was rushed to a local hospital, where he was declared deceased.
Witnesses reportedly saw a dark-colored sedan with tinted windows driving next to Ursin’s vehicle. Someone in the suspects’ vehicle is believed to have fired a shot in Ursin’s direction, at which point the suspects’ vehicle sped away, according to FOX 26.
Investigators believe the shooting was prompted by road rage.
On Friday, police arrested Ahsim Taylor Jr. and Jayland Womack, both 20, in connection with Ursin’s death.
Taylor is already facing charges of capital murder and tampering with evidence after allegedly shooting a man in an attempted robbery. Taylor is said to have violated his bond on January 1, 2021, but prosecutors reportedly failed to file a motion to revoke the bond.
As for Womack, he had been facing a murder charge after he and another person allegedly killed a man on January 2, 2021. His bond was revoked in December 2021, the bond was raised to $75,000, and he made that bond on December 24 and was subsequently released from custody.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a tweet that Taylor and Womack should not have been released from custody in the murder cases given their background and criminal history.
“There can be compassion when circumstances call for it, but there has to be balance,” Gonzalez said in a tweet.
“I am clear about constitutional rights for the accused, but we must also consider vulnerable victims. We need to see repeat offenders held accountable, swiftly,” Gonzalez tweeted. “How many times do our law enforcement officers have to put themselves in danger to arrest the same individuals over and over again with firearms before they are held?”
He added: “[V]iolent repeat offenders should not be allowed to walk in and out of jail before their trial, putting the public at risk.”
As of Friday, Taylor and Womack were back in custody in the Harris County Jail.
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[Featured image via Harris County police]
