HOUSTON – A 21-year-old murder defendant who’s been in jail for more than four years is expected to plead guilty and could possibly be free after serving just six more years behind bars.
25-year-old man killed in 2019
The backstory:
On Dec. 1, 2019, Terry Tondre lost her 25-year-old son, Keith Tondre Hardy.
“Don’t ever think it cannot happen to you because it can happen in the blink of an eye,” said Terry.
Police say Jeremiah Brown shot and killed Keith during a robbery.
“This is a really bad dude,” said Andy Kahan with Crime Stoppers. “He deserves to be locked away for a long time.”
Brown’s disturbing juvenile record was recently made public.
“He was 12 years old when he was charged and adjudicated in the juvenile system with injury to the elderly,” Kahan said. “Four pretty heavy offenses, most of them involving violence.”
Suspect jailed for 4+ years
263rd Judge Melissa Morris lowered Brown’s bond to $35,000, but he remains behind bars, racking up time served.
Family and friends of Brown only need to scrape together $3,500 to bond him out of jail. For whatever reason, they’ve chosen not to do that.
Terry says she’s had more assistant DAs on the case than she can count.
She says the most recent one told her Brown agreed to 15 years to plead guilty, but with time served, he could be paroled in just six years.
“It makes me worry, if he gets out, where is his next victim? It’s not will he do this, it’s who will be his next victim,” said Keith’s sister Brandilyn Pennington. “It’s not justice in any shape, form or fashion.”
What they’re saying:
In a statement, the DA’s office said, “as with all pending investigations, we do not discuss details of the case. Our focus is–and will continue to be–pursuing the appropriate and just outcome based on the evidence and the law. This is our responsibility to Harris County.”
The Source: The information in this article comes from an interview with Terry Tondre and court records.
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