Houston Murder Suspect Recaptured After Mistaken Jail Release, Faces Federal Charges

A Houston murder suspect spent two weeks on the run after slipping out of jail through a paperwork gap, only to be arrested Friday afternoon just one door away from his own listed address.

Johna Nando Robinson, 49, was taken into custody around 3 p.m. on March 13 by the Houston Police Department North Belt Tactical Team in the 10800 block of Coralstone Road, at a residence next door to his listed home address in court documents. FBI Houston announced the capture that same day, crediting coordinated efforts by the bureau, the Houston Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Violent Offender Fugitive Task Force.

Robinson is accused of fatally shooting 52-year-old Terribia "Ribi" Dembry near a Houston apartment complex on February 24. Dembry, described as a beloved grandfather, was 52 years old. Following his arrest, investigators piled on two new federal charges: possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Those counts stack on top of his existing state charges of murder and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Robinson is now in federal custody.

The sequence that allowed Robinson to walk free in the first place traces back to a multi-day gap between the shooting and the formal filing of the murder charge. HPD said the investigation was still ongoing and the evidence did not lead to a murder charge being filed until around 9 p.m. on February 26, two days after the killing. When those charges were finally accepted, HPD said, a series of paperwork processes were triggered. A Harris County District Attorney's Office spokesperson said those processes can take hours to complete.

The numbers bear that out. Robinson had been held on a separate firearm charge, posted bond, and was released from jail at 1:55 a.m. Friday, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Publicly available court records show the murder charge was not formally filed until 4:15 a.m. on February 28, well after Robinson had already walked out. A warrant for his arrest was issued after that formal filing. By then, he had been free for days.

Robinson's is not the only case to expose cracks in the Harris County jail release process. In a separate incident, 21-year-old Justin Tompkins, held since December 2022 on a capital murder charge with bond set at $750,000, was released after jail staff mistook him for another inmate with the same name, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office as reported by Fox 26 Houston. Tompkins voluntarily surrendered around 8:40 p.m. the same Friday night after authorities realized the error and launched a search. Harris County officials said the circumstances of that mistaken release would be investigated.

For Robinson, the two-week fugitive run ended close to home. His next court dates on the federal charges have not yet been publicly announced.