12-year-old girl recalls seeing her father shot on Saturday
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The family of a man murdered over the weekend is hoping a judge decides to hold the suspect in jail without bond.
Jerome Cormier was shot outside his home Saturday night off Castillan Road in east Harris County around 10:30 p.m.
Marquice Wear, 21, is charged with Cormier's murder. At the time of the shooting, Wear was out of jail on two felony bonds.
Earlier that day, Cormier's wife Raquel said they attended their granddaughter's first birthday party. She said Wear is the father of Cormier's granddaughter and was also at the party.
"My granddaughter, she had a big birthday cake, and they helped each other pick it up and take it in the house, and pick it up and take it outside so we could sing 'Happy Birthday' to her," the widow said.
Later that night, Raquel said Wear showed up at their home and they heard commotion outside. Cormier and his wife's 12-year-old daughter, Jazielle, said she told her father not to go outside because she saw Wear with a gun.
Despite her warning, Cormier went outside and during his interaction with the 21-year-old, he was shot.
"I saw him fire the gun, like you know, how the gun has the spark in it? I saw that," Jazielle said. "I saw him shoot my daddy. My daddy fell to the floor. All I could do was cry."
Cormier's 9-year-old son also witnessed the shooting.
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Initially, Raquel said Cormier was alert and talking. She said paramedics thought the bullet went through-and-through, but it was actually lodged inside his body. Cormier died at 12:01 a.m. on October 10.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office said Wear left the scene after the shooting and was taken into custody at his home without incident.
On Monday morning, the state asked a judge in probable cause court to allow a district judge to set his bond. Instead, the judge set bond at $150,000 and left the task of setting bond conditions to District Judge Hilary Unger.
On Tuesday, Wear posted bond. It is not clear if he actually got out of jail before his bond was revoked.
Prosecutors filed a motion to hold Wear without bond because of his pending cases including accusations of stealing catalytic converters and a separate charge of evading arrest.
During a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Judge Unger revoked Wear's bond and set a hearing for Friday to hear the state's motion. In that hearing, Unger will determine if bond is appropriate or if he should be held without one.
Cormier's family is hoping that Wear remains in jail.
"Do you think the person who killed somebody in your family should be allowed to be out on the streets?" Raquel asked of the judge. "We live so close to him. We know that he can do it. We know that he is capable of killing. We know that for a fact."
"I would do anything for my daddy to have justice, and I won't stop until he's in jail and he stays in there," Jazielle said.
The family is holding a benefit to raise money for Cormier's funeral expenses on Sunday at noon at Greenwood Park. They have also set up a GoFundMe account to help with funeral expenses.
