'Prime suspect' in Judge Kocurek shooting facing Houston murder charge

The suspect in the attempted assassination of a Travis County Judge was in court today in Houston.

28-year-old Chimene Onyeri sat in a Harris County courtroom Wednesday afternoon to face charges for the fatal shooting of 31-year-old Jacobi Alexander at a Houston apartment complex in May.
 
The judge set his bond at $1 million.
 
According to prosecutors, Onyeri is also the prime suspect in the assassination attempt of Travis County Judge Julie Kocurek in November.
 
Former Travis County prosecutor and current criminal defense attorney Mindy Montford says the attempt on Kocurek's life rocked the courthouse community.

"When it happens in your own backyard...sure.  It does make everybody sort of pause and take extra precautions," Montford said.

So what's the link between Kocurek and Onyeri?

Court records show Kocurek was about to revoke his probation for a 2012 conviction in an identity theft case out of Rollingwood.
 
In June, he violated his probation.
 
Onyeri was supposed to appear before Kocurek who could have put him in jail.
 
We asked Montford for some insight on the legal timeline of this case.  She says it could be a lengthy process.

"If they do in fact charge him with the case in Travis County.  They aren't going to wait on the Harris County case before they charge.  I think that they would go ahead and charge him if they had the facts and they had the evidence and then they would put what's called a 'hold' on him.  So that once he is done with his Harris County case, he wouldn't be going to a different prison he would be coming to Travis County after completing the Harris County case to answer to those charges," Montford said.

During the hearing on Wednesday, Onyeri's father testified his son couldn't have shot at Kocurek because he was at home in Houston that night.

Onyeri's attorney told a FOX reporter the court hasn't been able to produce any evidence linking his client to the Kocurek incident.

So he's asking for an "examination hearing" later this month.

"That's a preliminary hearing that basically requires the state to come forward and say 'This is what we have at this point.' it's basically whether or not they have probably cause for the arrest itself and for the continued hold and detainment of the person," Montford said.

According to court documents, an investigator with the Travis County DA's office was tipped off about the November assassination attempt a couple of weeks before the incident.
 
But apparently the informant couldn't provide the name of the judge being targeted.