Man who stabbed 80-year-old grandmother to death at Houston Walgreens had bond waived two weeks earlier

Randy Lewis, 38, was committed to a mental facility in October 2019 after a mental exam found him temporarily incompetent.

The man who allegedly stabbed an 80-year-old woman to death outside a Houston Walgreens had been released from custody two weeks prior after his bond was waived.

Randy Lewis, 38, was committed to a mental facility in October 2019 after a mental exam found him temporarily incompetent. He was serving a sentence for assaulting a public servant after he struck someone who was transferring him to the county jail.

Lewis’ bond was waived on April 30 and he was released halfway home on May 1.

He was shot and killed by a police officer Saturday after he stabbed 80-year-old Rosalie Cook outside a Walgreens. According to a police report, Lewis was allegedly demanding money from customers and threatening people with a knife. As Cook left the Walgreens, Lewis stabbed her in the chest and took her car keys.

A witness flagged down an officer who ordered Lewis, now in Cook’s car and attempting to start it, to step out of the vehicle. Lewis did and pointed the knife at the officer who shot him twice. He died at the scene.

Cook was transported to a nearby hospital where she later died.

Lewis had previously been arrested nearly 70 times, according to the Houston Police Officers’ Union.

“The justice system let us down,” Chuck Cook, the victim’s son, told KHOU 11. “There is absolutely no reason this man should have been out on the street, absolutely no reason at all.”