FORT WORTH, Texas — In the last week alone, three violent accused criminals in the Fort Worth area were out on bond days before they allegedly committed new offenses.
Fatal stabbing
Monday afternoon, Arlington police used social media to get the word out about a suspect on the run.
Investigators accuse 26-year-old Nathan Woodard of stabbing his mother to death on Longmeadow Drive. According to Tarrant County jail records, Woodard got out of jail just nine days ago, after serving a year behind bars. He was ordered to pay restitution.
Woman found dead
Police said a man who was out on bond for an alleged domestic violence incident earlier this year faces more charges after his alleged 26-year-old female victim was found dead, buried under a home in Fort Worth this week.
Police said a man named Valerian Osteen, 24, is accused in the death of Marissa Grimes, a mother of two who had been reported missing in Arlington on Feb. 12.
According to court documents, Osteen has a history of domestic violence. An arrest affidavit says in January, Grimes told police Osteen held her at gun point and threatened to kill her.
Information that former district judge Gill says, a judge may not have known when posting bond on the latest charge.
AMBER Alert kidnapping
On Friday, another case involving a suspect who was out of jail on bond, triggered an AMBER Alert after Fort Worth police said an 11-month-old baby was kidnapped by her dad, Lancelot Dawkins, who had a violent history.
Police said Dawkins had bonded out that same morning before the alleged abduction, and traveled straight to the home of his child's mother, his ex-girlfriend. There, police said he strangled her to the point of unconsciousness before taking the infant.
The baby was found safe and Dawkins was arrested in neighboring New Mexico.
What happened?
With all these examples, WFAA is digging deeper into the conditions of how a bond is set and how a judge makes the decision.
Bob Gill was a longtime criminal district court judge in Tarrant County. Gill said the Constitution says virtually everyone with a criminal offense is entitled to have a bond set, but a judge relies on the information provided to help inform their decision.
“The judge can only work on the information the judge has in front of them at the time," Gill said. "Who is presenting the judge with this information? A lot of that information is provided by law enforcement by way of an affidavit or a police report."
Gill said that judges can have "evidence-based tools" that they can use to assess danger and risks, but ultimately:
“We have to keep in mind, a judge doesn’t have a crystal ball," Gill said.
"We can’t look into the future, and try to figure out what will happen with the case in the future."