By David Taylor Managing Editor
HARRIS COUNTY — The June 6 killing of Houston father Louis Erebia has renewed scrutiny of Judge Ta’iva Bell and the 339th Criminal District Court, where critics say repeated decisions to keep violent or repeat offenders out of custody have had deadly consequences.
Erebia was killed while trying to help his son recover a stolen vehicle, according to accounts shared on The Isiah Factor. Police have arrested and charged 37-yearold London Hogan with murder in the case. Hogan, according to those interviewed, was already on felony probation at the time of the killing and had a criminal history that victims’ advocates say should have kept him behind bars.
For Erebia’s family, the case is not only about one man accused of pulling the trigger. It is about a justice system they believe failed long before Erebia died.
“Unimaginable,” Erebia’s wife, Amanda, said on The Isiah Factor. “Something that you think you only see in the movies, but you would never have to live. My kids lost their dad. They’re going to spend most of their life without a dad. And I lost my husband of 22 years.”
Family members and supporters said Erebia was not acting recklessly or trying to take the law into his own hands when he was killed. “Louis didn’t chase the vehicle,” Amber Burrough, Erebia’s sister-in-law said on the program.
“Louis was not out there trying to be reckless. He wasn’t trying to be a lone ranger. He knew that his son’s best friend was in danger and he shielded that boy with his body.”
Burrough said Erebia “went out there to protect. That’s how he lived his life.”
The case has focused attention on Hogan’s past and on decisions made in Bell’s court. Andy Kahn of Crime Stoppers of Houston described Hogan as a “career habitual offender” during the interview, saying Hogan had been to prison multiple times and had been placed on probation for a violent offense before allegedly killing Erebia.
“So, Hogan is what you call a career habitual offender,” Kahan said. “He’s been to prison multiple times. He’s done time in state jail. He’s done time in county. Matter of fact, the only time he’s been crime free is when he’s been locked up.”
Kahn said Hogan received five years of probation in 2024 for assault with intent to impede breathing. While on probation, Kahn said, Hogan traveled to Louisiana and was charged with four felonies, including allegations involving an attempt to deliver drugs and alcohol into a federal correctional facility.
Prosecutors filed a motion to revoke Hogan’s probation, Kahn said, but Bell dismissed the motion and sentenced Hogan to 30 days in jail, with credit that reduced the actual time served to roughly two days.
“The judge dismissed the motion to revoke and gave him 30 days jail with credit for 13, meaning he had to do a whopping two days in jail for violating his conditions of probation,” Kahn said. “If the judge would have taken a good hard look at his record, there is no ifs, ands, or buts. Louis is alive today. He was failed by our criminal justice system. It is a cataclysmic failure. None of this should have ever happened. He should have never been out.”
In a separate interview, Kahn said the decision reflected a broader problem with probation revocations in Harris County.
“Why bother having conditions of probation if you’re never going to enforce them, especially when you’re convicted of a new felony while on probation?”
Kahn said. “What kind of message are you sending?” Kahn called Erebia’s death “so utterly preventable,” adding, “Our criminal justice system failed this family. Miserably.”
Bell has faced similar criticism before. In a 2023 FOX 26 “Breaking Bond” report, Judge Tavia Bell, then presiding over the 339th Criminal District Court, was criticized after she revoked and then reinstated the bond of 18-yearold Jamie Salinas, who had been charged with disarming a police officer. According to the report, Bell set Salinas’ bond at $7,500. After Salinas allegedly violated curfew requirements, Bell revoked the bond but allowed him out of jail the next day without increasing the bond amount.
Salinas was later charged with capital murder in the death of Jamie Torres, a 26-year-old father of four.
“That decision you can plausibly argue perhaps cost Mr. Torres his life,”
Kahn said in the FOX 26 report. Kahn said the problem is not limited to one case.
“This is judicial discretion, and this is not an anomaly,” Kahn said. “I’ve seen this happen repeatedly.”
He said he has asked state leaders to examine how courts handle motions to revoke probation. “I suggested to the lieutenant governor and the governor that we take a good hard look at what’s going on with motion to revoke probations,” Kahn said. “Like I said, this is not an anomaly. I’ve seen this repeatedly happen.”
During The Isiah Factor interview, Kahn said judges and courts must confront the consequences of leaving offenders on probation after new arrests or convictions.
“How do you allow someone who’s already on probation getting another conviction while on probation and still be allowed to remain on probation?” Kahn said. “That’s the question that’s going to haunt this family and this community forever.”
April Aguirre, a family friend, said on the program that Erebia’s death reflects a larger failure to hold repeat offenders accountable.
“The truth is, a lot of people are just tired of being victimized,” Aguirre said. “When you get a call from your son saying, dad, somebody just put a gun to my face, I think he reacted like any father would do.”
Aguirre said the family wants accountability not only for the person accused of shooting Erebia, but also for others involved.
“I don’t just want the shooter,” she said. “I want the getaway driver, and I want all of his buddies.”
Amber Burrough, Erebia’s sister-in-law, said the family is trying to honor Erebia’s life while demanding answers from the justice system.
“It’s tough because it should have never happened,” Burrough said. “This gentleman has a record of multiple egregious felonies. He was on probation. He violated bond. He should have never been released in the first place.”
Burrough said the family wants the courts to do what they believe should have happened before Erebia was killed. “I ask that you pray for my sister,” she said.
“I ask that you pray for my nieces and nephews. I ask that you pray for the victim, the other victim who was shot and just released from the hospital. And most importantly, I ask that the judicial system works and that these criminals are punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
Kahn said the issue now belongs not only to Erebia’s family, but to the public and lawmakers who have the power to change the system.
“This makes a mockery of the entire system,” Kahn said. “Very rarely do I see anybody’s probation revoked, and that includes with a new conviction. And that to me is the core issue of this.”
For Erebia’s family, those questions are no longer abstract. They are tied to a husband, father and community member they say died while trying to protect someone else.
“I think the way that we’re going to cope with this is honoring the life of my brother-in-law,” Burrough said, “who was a man who put his family first, his faith above everything, and he served his community.”
062226 ErebiaJudge 01 – Judge Ta’iva Bell is under scrutiny following her decision to allow 37-yearold London Hogan out on bond, even after he had violated his bond parameters, and then allegedly shot and killed Louis Erebia. Family, community members and leaders are demanding answers.
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