A judge has intervened to lower the bail from $140,000 to $90,000 for Tony Earls Jr., the man implicated in the tragic shooting of 9-year-old Arlene Alvarez. Earls is facing charges of murder and aggravated assault following a fatal incident that occurred two years ago, wherein it is alleged he fired at an individual who had robbed him at an ATM, inadvertently striking the Alvarez family's vehicle and causing the death of the young girl inside, as reported by KIAH.
In a twist of events, after Earls was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, a Harris County grand jury opted not to indict him on these charges in July 2022, leading to his release. The robber involved in the initial confrontation with Earls, a catalytic figure in the case, has yet to be identified. Following up on this complex and emotional case, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg assigned Warren Diepraam, a special prosecutor, to re-examine the evidence. According to a courtroom hearing, Diepraam brought in an FBI firearms expert to review the physical evidence and surveillance footage.
During a recent hearing detailed by the Houston Chronicle, the focus was whether Judge Colleen Gaido should lower Earls' bond on charges that included murder and aggravated assault—the latter of which Diepraam pointed out as a weak case. The discussion didn't extend to the unidentified person of interest related to the ATM robbery, who is out on bond from a separate evading arrest charge, nor the efforts to press charges regarding the robbery.
Earls' defense attorney, Ana Paula Funes-Baker, argued that Earls was not in hiding, but rather staying in a tent in his uncle's backyard due to marital discord, and that his arrest location was also the residence of his wife, Deyonna Hines. Hines, troubled by the case's events, was questioned about her financial ability to support her husband's bail. "My life has been altered," she told the Houston Chronicle, expressing the profound effect of the situation on her circumstances. Finally, despite the prosecuting attorney's reservations about the family's ability to afford bail, the judge lowered Earls' bail, taking into consideration the family's demonstrated financial limitations and the county's current bail policies.
