A group of teens accused of robbing a CVS in Sugar Land, Texas, "quickly escalated their crimes" the same day into a violent attack on a jail officer and a brief escape in a case that Newsmax crime correspondent Jason Mattera said took "a painfully familiar turn."
One suspect, he told "Wake Up America," had previously been convicted in a capital murder case as a juvenile and later released with an ankle monitor despite prosecutors' objections.
"Police in Sugar Land, Texas, say that on Jan. 11, four teenagers robbed a CVS early in the morning," Mattera reported. "Their getaway plan wasn't exactly thought out, and they were all caught almost immediately, arrested, and charged with aggravated robbery."
But, he said, "aggravated robbery was just the beginning."
"The four quickly escalated their crimes to aggravated assault and escape, according to court documents obtained by Newsmax," Mattera said.
He reported that later that afternoon, "a jailer opened the cell door to check on one of those inmates and was met with a violent attack."
"The officer was allegedly stomped in the head six or seven times and knocked unconscious," Mattera said.
"He reportedly suffered a broken nose, along with severe lacerations to his face, mouth, neck, and chest. He apparently was also bitten several times."
Police said that one of the teens then released the other inmates, Mattera reported.
"In all, four escaped, but that escape was brief," he said, noting that authorities tracked them down and took them back into custody "not even two hours later."
"But here is where the story takes a painfully familiar turn," Mattera said, identifying one of the suspects as 19-year-old Edmound Guillory, who "was already known to the courts three years earlier."
"He was arrested for capital murder and later convicted, all as a juvenile," Mattera said.
Guillory was "reportedly sentenced to 17 years in prison," he said, but "instead of being transferred to an adult facility to finish that sentence, he was released on parole at 19 by a juvenile court judge and merely given an ankle monitor."
"It was a decision that the Harris County District Attorney's Office strongly opposed," Mattera said.
"There are consequences when you give a chance to someone who's a violent offender, and those consequences came fast, authorities say," he continued.
Mattera said Guillory "cut off his ankle monitor just days before robbing the CVS," and then, "with the three other teens," allegedly "participated in the jailhouse escape that left a guard nearly beaten to death."
"There were other victims now that didn't have to be there," Mattera said.
Mattera also framed the case as part of a broader criminal justice debate, saying, "This is the cycle of progressive justice. Criminals are shielded from punishment, followed by more people being victimized by those very same criminals."
He said the teen group is now accused of "serious felonies" and added that "if convicted, they should be behind bars for a long time."
Mattera said that was "especially true for Edmound Guillory," who he noted "was already out on parole for murder before he cut off his second chance at life — along with his ankle monitor."
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