Jonathan Sukhia retweetledi
A judge in Austin had three separate chances to send Jaheim Neal to prison before he killed Larissa Herold. She denied every one.
Neal was on plea-deal probation for a 2020 aggravated kidnapping and robbery. In the meantime, he picked up arrests for assault, drugs, and a bunch of other crimes. The DA filed three motions to revoke. Judge Chantal Eldridge denied all three.
One Saturday last fall, 26-year-old Larissa was stopped at a red light at Parmer and Mopac, driving home from volunteering at a community garden. Neal was on the service road - speeding with no valid license, on alcohol and cocaine and pot. He jumped multiple barriers and slammed into her car. She died at the scene.
Since 2021, Travis County judges have denied 68% (or 5,400) of motions to revoke probation or deferred adjudication. Occasionally, an Austin prosecutor will try to put away a violent offender, but it’s the judge who sends them back to the streets.
Larissa was a mechanical engineer with two UT degrees. Her father still keeps her plants in the front room of his house. "She was my daughter, she was my friend," he said.
Great reporting by @BriHollisNEWS and @hueyjayd - link in replies.
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