Accused deputy killer's parole part of "systemic problem": lawmaker
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- In the aftermath of the death of Harris County Deputy Sandeep Dhaliwal, there are questions about the man accused of killing him.
Robert Solis, 47, is charged with capital murder in the death of Dhaliwal. At a court hearing last week, a judge denied his bond, predicting a possible death penalty outcome.
READ MORE: Alleged deputy killer Robert Solis has lengthy criminal history
Solis was released from prison in 2014. Two years later, while on parole, he was convicted of a DUI, but wasn't sent back to prison.
He later violated his parole again, in which it was later revoked, but he fell off law enforcement's radar until last week when he was arrested and charged with murder in the deputy's death.
RELATED: Suspect in deputy killing reportedly slipped through cracks
According to the state, Solis was one of about 6,000 parolees who broke the law and didn't go back to prison. He was one of 13,000 parolees for whom there are warrants.
State Representative Sarah Davis first learned of the issue regarding the parole system when Kiara Taylor, a parolee convicted of three crimes after his release and was not re-incarcerated, killed 19-year-old Peter Mielke in her district.
She has pitched bills the last two legislative sessions that would study how and why convicts are paroled and what happens after they commit new crimes.
Both times, the bills have passed the house. It didn't have a vote in the state senate.
"I think there needs to be reform in determining who gets out for parole, and there needs to be a better system of the revocation process of parole," said Davis, a Bellaire native who was first elected in 2010. "Part of the legislation was not only to do the study, but then make recommendations to the state on how the state could approach the situation better."
Crime victim advocate Andy Kahan, who works for Crime Stoppers, showed ABC13 two separate recent cases in which men were convicted of new crimes while on parole, but were not returned to prison.
They include Leroy Stoots, who killed Kumba Sesay in July 2016, and Michael Susberry, who killed 79-year-old Janiel Bernard in July 2017.
Both men are now serving long sentences after murder convictions.
Davis says the system needs more than a study: it needs serious reform. The legislature, however, doesn't meet again until January 2021.
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