ASHEVILLE - During Ryan Houston's flight from Western North Carolina law enforcement and suspected theft of three vehicles while attempting to escape capture, three people lost their lives: an Asheville mother, a retired Marshall Police Department chief, and Houston himself.
Just over a year ago, Houston was held in the Buncombe County Detention Facility for allegedly shooting a sheriff's deputy outside the magistrate's office in downtown Asheville after threatening his former wife and children, punching the wife's friend, and following her to the jail.
Now in the aftermath of a fugitive's run from police, the victims' families are left to wonder, and express anger over, why he was released from jail a year ago.
“He should have never been let out … I’m very upset with that system right now,” Phillip Crisp Sr. said, the former father-in-law of Malerie Crisp, who remained a “daughter” to him after his son's divorce a couple years ago.
Crisp’s coworkers said she came to work with bruises on her body days before she was found dying from stab wounds in Houston’s car, according to Crisp Sr. Being in an “on and off” relationship with Houston, her family was frequently scared for her safety, even before the shooting outside the magistrate’s office last year, Crisp Sr. said.
No risk assessment completed on Houston
Following the May 7, 2023, shootout outside the county jail’s lobby, Houston spent more than two weeks in the hospital before he was placed in jail custody under charges of attempted first-degree murder, assault on a law enforcement officer and a string of other crimes.
Normally, Buncombe County’s Pre-trial Release Services screens everyone arrested using a standardized risk assessment, which analyzes how likely they are to attend court hearings, commit other crimes or become a risk to public safety if released before their case is settled, according to county spokesperson Lillian Govus.
Wrong-way driver confirmed as fugitive: NCSHP: Jaguar driver in I-26 crash killing Police Chief Boone confirmed as fugitive
Summaries of the findings are shared with judicial officials, but “the ultimate decision rests with the judge based on their judicial discretion,” Govus said, regarding pretrial release and bond decisions.
The Citizen Times requested the summary of Houston’s risk assessment, but none exists.
“Because this individual was booked while being under medical care and he did not move through a traditional booking process, we do not have any documents responsive to your request,” Govus told the Citizen Times Aug. 6.
Previous reporting: Update: 'Dangerous' man in fatal wreck before home invasion; ankle monitor stopped working
What happened with Houston's bond?
Houston was arrested before a new law came into effect requiring a judge to set bonds and pre-trial release conditions rather than a magistrate for a slew of more serious charges, including attempted murder.
But while Houston was still in the hospital, Chief District Court Judge J. Calvin Hill signed an order outlining Houston’s release conditions and setting his bond at $1.5 million on May 10, 2023, according to court documents. Hill considered Houston’s criminal history when determining the conditions, the order said.
Houston was then indicted on another charge of attempted first-degree murder on June 6 and was given an additional bond amount of $500,000 which was later reduced to $100,000, making his total $1.6 million, court documents show.
There are different types of bonds in North Carolina, under state law, including:
A written promise to appear, when a defendant pledges they will show up to court hearings.
An unsecured appearance bond, where a defendant is released and will only have to pay the amount set if they fail to show for court hearings.
An appearance bond, where a defendant must pay the amount in cash, through a bonding company or using collateral like their home or property to get out of jail.
Per state law, a judge must impose an appearance bond or house arrest with electronic monitoring if they determine the defendant poses a danger to the public. Under Buncombe County's bond policy, a "no bond" order is only recommended for Class A felony charges, including first-degree murder. An attempt to commit murder is a Class B2 felony, according to state law.
Before the new pre-trial law came into effect in October, after Houston was charged, state law only allowed "no bond" to be set for first-degree murder charges. Now, it's under a judge's discretion whether a defendant may be released before trial for 14 different charges from robbery with a dangerous weapon to attempted murder.
Houston was given a $1.6 million appearance bond, which he paid on July 24 by using eight properties he owns as collateral, court documents show. His property bond was finalized the next day, and he was released from jail on Aug. 1, Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Christina Esmay previously said.
“We are numb and accustomed to a bond system in our justice system, so we continuously see people that engage in domestic violence or some type of criminal conduct that are entitled and eligible to a bond,” said David Wijewickrama, the attorney for deputy William Johnston’s lawsuit against Houston. He added that Houston was in "continuous communication" with his attorneys, and he never had a reason to believe Houston wouldn't show up to court.
“Some people can make the bond, some people cannot,” he added.
More: Sheriff's deputy files 'rare' lawsuit against man who shot him at Buncombe County jail
Electronic monitor issues: Houston released again
During his release, Houston was required to wear an electronic monitor through a company called "Always Do Right LLC" to ensure he didn’t enter areas called “exclusion zones” under his release conditions, namely within 1,000 feet of his former wife's home. He was also ordered to have no contact with any of the victims.
Assistant District Attorney Kyle Sherard filed a motion to revoke Houston's bond the day after he was released from jail, because his electronic monitoring device "was off and non-operational for approx. 10 hours." The device died overnight after Houston charged it for 5 minutes rather than the necessary hour on Aug. 1, the motion said.
Houston was not at home when he was contacted about the outage around 1 p.m. Aug. 2 and began recharging it. Sherard requested his bond be revoked because of a "clear disregard" to follow pre-trial release instructions.
"The defendant's behavior also poses risk of additional danger to the alleged victim," he wrote.
After a court hearing Aug. 3, Judge Jacqueline Grant ordered Houston remain under house arrest until a state-sanctioned monitoring device was available.
Three days later, a company called Monotec sent a violation report to Buncombe County Pre-Trial Services showing that Houston went into an area he wasn’t allowed, court records show. He was arrested the next day under pre-trial release violations.
At first, Grant set a new bond for him at $200,000 on Aug. 7, 2023, according to court records. But a court filing by Grant the next day shows there were “persistent issues with the private electronic monitoring service,” indicating that Houston’s ankle device was faulty.
Grant ordered Houston stay in jail custody until a new state-sanctioned monitoring device was available. She also reverted Houston’s bond and pre-trial conditions to the one governing his previous release from jail.
Houston was once again released from jail on Aug. 17, 2023, Esmay previously said.
“I offer my condolences to all who have suffered as a result of Ryan Ricky Houston’s acts of tragic and wanton violence over the past year — most particularly to the families of Malerie Crisp and Mike Boone,” District Attorney Todd Williams said in a statement Aug. 7.
“Throughout the pendency of Houston’s cases, this Office advocated before our Courts that the facts of this case indicated that no conditions of release could secure public safety, and that Houston should remain in jail.”
'Make sure this never happens again'
In his tenure, Marshall Police Chief Mike Boone survived a gunshot wound from a sniper rifle, shots fired into his patrol car and maintained the trust and respect of Marshall’s citizens while spearheading the department for 10 years, the Citizen Times previously reported.
While driving home from part time work at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College's Enka campus on Aug. 2, he was struck and killed by Houston driving the wrong way on Interstate 26 in a stolen Jaguar. Both cars were engulfed in flames.
It was the day after he retired from law enforcement service.
Now, Officer Tori Murdoch with the Marshall Police Department is collecting signatures for a petition to bring before Chuck Edwards, the U.S. representative for North Carolina’s 11th District. In a first step toward organizing, Murdoch said he has about 20 signatures from various agencies to “make sure this never happens again.”
Their ask: ensure there is a law or policy in place that if anyone is charged with shooting an officer, they are ineligible for release. They also might extend the request for domestic violence behaviors.
Murdoch said he hopes the petition expands “to any and all agencies, and any person with a heartbeat that wants to sign.”
Another victim of Houston’s violent rampage, Malerie Crisp, was an Asheville mother of two young sons, who Crisp Sr. described as a down-to-earth, sweet and special person.
It was fate when Crisp Sr.’s son, Phillip Alan Crisp Jr., fell at the roller-skating rink where Crisp worked at age 16, Crisp Sr. said. She showed him kindness, and after that, they “were just always together.”
“We’re hoping this will help change the system,” Crisp Sr. said. “Our goal is to not just let this go by the wayside and not have something good come out of this horrible situation, even if it just protects one more person.”
Madison County reporter Johnny Casey contributed to this report.
Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: WNC fugitive released from Buncombe County jail a year before 3 died
