By David Taylor Managing Editor
AUSTIN — Standing before a Texas House committee, Amber Burrough described a birthday celebration that became a painful reminder of the man her family lost.
Louis Erebia’s 15-yearold daughter should have been celebrating with a quinceañera, Burrough said. Instead, this weekend she broke down as relatives sang “Happy Birthday,” grieving a father who was shot and killed months earlier.
“If we were lucky, my brother would be at his daughter’s birthday this weekend,” Burrough told lawmakers. “We’re not lucky.”
Burrough, Erebia’s sister- in-law, traveled to Austin on Sept. 30 to testify before the House Select Committee on Governmental Oversight. The panel, chaired by state Rep. Cody Vasut, met at the Capitol to hear testimony on prosecutorial integrity and possible safeguards against outside influence or failures in local prosecution.
The North Channel Star identified London Hogan, Sr. as the man charged with murder in Erebia’s June 6 death. Hogan has also been charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. A judge has denied him bond.
Erebia, 56, was killed after going to help recover his son’s stolen pickup, according to investigators. Authorities say Erebia and others tracked the truck by GPS before the encounter ended near Airline Drive and North Loop 610 in Houston. His family has described him as a devoted husband, father of five, grandfather, youth baseball coach and community volunteer.
Burrough told the committee that her family believes the killing could have been prevented if the justice system had responded more forcefully to Hogan’s previous offenses and alleged probation violations.
“London Hogan was the individual who pulled the trigger, but I blame the judicial system as well,” she testified.
Hogan received five years of deferred-adjudication probation in 2024 after pleading guilty in an aggravated-assault case involving strangulation, according to court records cited in published reports. He was later arrested in Louisiana while on probation.
“Within less than a year, he was crossing state lines in Louisiana trying to smuggle $20,000 worth of dope into a correctional facility. And still, he was allowed to walk free in Harris County. Eight months later, they finally filed the motion to adjudicate, but nothing. He was given two days, two days for multiple attempts, multiple violations of probation, and within seven months he took my brother- in-law’s life,” she said. Burrough contended that authorities had repeated opportunities to hold him in custody before Erebia was killed.
Burrough invoked an earlier question from committee member Richard Peña Raymond about the consequences of repeated government failures.
“If things keep happening and people die, where does it stop?” she asked. “I am here as a representative of my family that is in mourning, my brother who can no longer speak and the citizens of Harris County.”
Her testimony extended beyond her family’s case. Burrough urged lawmakers to impose greater oversight on district attorneys, prosecutors and judges, arguing that accountability problems affect communities throughout Texas. “We need oversight for our DAs.
We need oversight for our judges,” she said. “It’s not just a Travis County situation. It’s a situation that is universal across Texas.” Burrough also cited dismissal figures she attributed to Harris County’s 339th District Court and questioned how many defendants whose cases were dismissed later committed new crimes. The figures and her interpretation of them were presented as part of her testimony.
“When you talk about the failures of just the 339th Court, Judge Bell, since 2021,” she said “5,407 cases filed. She’s dismissed 2,173 of those dismissals that our DA had to sign off on. There were 128 aggravated assaults on a family member, 116 aggravated assaults with a deadly weapon, 93 possessions of a firearm felony, 93 family violent assault cases felony and 40 aggravated assaults,” Burrough listed. All dismissed.
“How many of those reoffended?” she asked. “How many of those have also had family members lose their lives? At what point does my brother-inlaw’s voice count for something?”
Burrough told lawmakers that Erebia spent Saturdays visiting the homes of students who had left school and encouraging them to return. Since his death, she said, a Little League field has been named in his honor and Woodland Acres Elementary School has dedicated a bench to him.
“But yet he’s not here,” she said. “He doesn’t get a second chance.”
The family is also seeking scrutiny of another person it believes assisted in the events surrounding Erebia’s death. No additional murder charge had been announced at the time of Burrough’s testimony, and the family’s claims about another person’s involvement remain allegations.
Burrough said the family had met with Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare a day before the Austin hearing to seek answers about the prosecution and possible additional accountability.
Outside the committee room, she said the family’s advocacy would continue.
“All I can tell you is that we’re not done,” Burrough said in an interview. “We’re going to continue fighting and advocating, not just because it was a preventable murder of Louis, but because there are so many citizens in Harris County that are still unprotected.”
She closed her testimony by acknowledging that no change in law could return Erebia to his wife, children and grandchildren. But she told committee members that they could prevent another family from suffering the same loss.
“We’re never going to get my brother-in-law back,” Burrough said. “But you have the power to keep his voice going and make changes that stop other families from living through what we’re living through.””
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