Jonathan Lovato, 33, of Lubbock was charged with murder for the March death of Ngoc “Nancy” Dung Tran, 54. Lubbock Police said he led officers on a high speed chase that ended at the intersection of 19th Street and Avenue Q with a crash which in turn took Tran’s life.
Lovato was served with the paperwork for the murder charge Wednesday in the Lubbock County Detention Center. Lovato was originally charged with drug possession and a parole violation. He was arrested after the chase and crash.
His bond was recommended by prosecutors at $500,000 for the murder charge, but as of late Wednesday afternoon the bond had not been officially listed in jail records.
During the chase, police officers were authorized to crash into Lovato’s vehicle to stop him before anyone was hurt. However, officers could not do it in time.
Just before the chase, officers set up a perimeter around a local hotel to arrest Lovato for a drug related arrest warrant. Somehow, Lovato was able to get out of the perimeter and drive away from the hotel.
