HOUSTON — Authorities in Houston launched a manhunt for Walter Pozos, a 32-year-old murder defendant in Harris County, after his GPS ankle monitor generated a tamper alert early on a Monday morning. His murder trial had been scheduled to begin two days later, on Wednesday.

The U.S. Marshals Service confirmed that its agents are involved in the search alongside Harris County sheriff's deputies. Pozos faces additional felony charges in Harris County for bail jumping and tampering with an electronic monitor, according to court records. Bond on his initial cases has been forfeited.

Pozos had been out of jail on a total $35,000 bond since October 2023, the Harris County District Attorney's Office confirmed. The pending murder case stemmed from a July 2023 incident in which Pozos allegedly fled from Harris County sheriff's deputies at speeds over 100 miles per hour, according to the Harris County Sheriff's Office. One of his passengers died in the resulting crash, and another passenger was injured.

A mistrial was declared in February 2026 in his first murder trial because of a hung jury. The retrial that had been scheduled for last Wednesday will not proceed as scheduled while Pozos remains at large.

The case spans events beginning in July 2023, when the incident that led to the murder charge occurred, through October 2023, when Pozos was released on bond, to February 2026, when a hung jury resulted in a mistrial. His GPS ankle monitor generated the tamper alert on a Monday morning preceding last Wednesday's scheduled retrial date.