A Harris County judge released a murder suspect on a pretrial bond Thursday, after the man requested a bail reduction, saying he feared that COVID-19 would strike the county lockup and “spread like wildfire.”

David Cruz, 29, was detained in connection with his friend’s death because he couldn’t afford a $60,000 bond. He asked Judge DaSean Jones to lower his bond to $30,000 and impose electronic monitoring and pretrial supervision. His lawyer stated in court documents Monday that COVID-19 “is certainly going to strike the Harris County jail population and spread like wildfire among inmates.” If Cruz were released, the lawyer said, Cruz would live with his parents and work as an estimator at the family’s lamination business.

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