A previous criminal case has been dismissed against Joseph Jebbia, a man accused of fatally hitting a woman during a chase in N. Houston, records show

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – The man accused of leading police on a chase that tragically left a woman dead would still be behind bars if the charges had not been dropped in 2022, according to documents.

Joseph Jebbia is accused of the murder of Carrie Mitchell.

Mitchell was waiting for a bus on the North Freeway service road last week when she was struck and killed by Jebbia, authorities said.

Now the question is, why was Jebbia driving around outside?

According to court records obtained by ABC13, Jebbia was charged with illegal possession of a firearm in 2022. Since he was already on probation, Jebbia was placed on probation and had to remain in the Harris County Jail.

However, just days before his trial in December 2023, the charges against Jebbia were dismissed, citing a pending federal case.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office confirmed to ABC13 that the U.S. Attorney's Office informed them that continuing the case at the state level would hinder the federal investigation.

Sources told ABC13 that the federal investigation was related to drug trafficking. But there was a problem: Federal authorities never filed charges.

“Look, the government screwed up. The case should have been prosecuted,” said former federal prosecutor Michael Wynne. “The man should not have been at large. There is no excuse for that.”

After the state's case was dismissed, Jebbia was released from probation within weeks and was free again. Wynne says while these situations do happen, defendants are usually charged with federal crimes right away, so they're not just walking the streets.

“It's symptomatic of a colossal lack of communication between federal and U.S. law enforcement. It happens far too often. The result is tragic,” Wynn said.

Wynne says Mitchell's family has a right to an explanation from prosecutors about what happened. ABC13 spoke to Mitchell's daughter Wednesday afternoon and she said she had no idea that a previous charge had been dropped without further federal action.

“The authorities probably just didn't get around to it. There's just no excuse,” Wynne said.

When ABC13 contacted the Justice Department about the case, they said they were looking into it, but they could only comment on what was in the files. But since there was no arrest, there are no files to comment on.

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