9-yr-old Arlene Alvarez's mom Gwen slams jurors for letting daughter's killer Tony Earls walk free
HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS: Distraught mother of nine-year-old Arlene Alvarez blasted a Texas grand jury on Tuesday, July 19, during the press conference for failing to indict the man who shot and killed her young daughter while chasing down a robber five months ago. Gwen Alvarez spoke out after a Harris County grand jury declined to indict 41-year-old Tony Earls, the man police say fired the shots that killed the little girl on February 15.
Earls and his wife were targeted by a robber near a Chase Bank ATM in the Gulfgate area, according to an investigation. Earls then got out and shot at the fleeing suspect and a pickup truck he thought the suspect was getting into, according to police. However, the pickup was not the suspect's getaway vehicle. Arlene and her family, on the other hand, were inside. A bullet hit Arlene in the head, and she was transported to the hospital, where she died a month and a half later.
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Earls was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, but due to the decision of the grand jury, his case cannot be retried, according to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg. "The grand jury, a random group of ordinary people in Harris County who answered their jury summons, heard the evidence in this case as presented by our prosecutors, heard all of the possible charges - from murder to manslaughter to aggravated assault to criminally-negligent homicide. That grand jury also heard possible defenses," Ogg said, explaining that deadly force can be excused including under defense of property cases.
Gwen Alvarez blasted the grand jury's decision at a press conference on Tuesday, July 19 saying, ''It was proven [the suspect] never jumped into our vehicle, so I don't understand [Earls] innocence. He gets to see the light my daughter doesn't, my daughter is still dug down underground". ''He knew what he was doing, and he knew he was going to kill intentionally whoever was in that vehicle," ABC 13 Houston reported.
Earls was eventually able to avoid a possible murder or manslaughter charge because he had been the victim of a crime. Jurors ultimately agreed with his defense team that he had the right to defend himself and his property. "To say that we're disappointed wouldn't be enough," April Aguirre, Arlene's aunt, said. "We feel defeated, because they so quickly came to a decision that we don't agree with."
''I lived that moment and I go back to that day every night,'' Gwen said, holding back tears. ''Maybe Earls wasn't accountable for his actions, but he knows with what intentions he shot at our vehicle [with], because self-defense is not more than nine shots". ''There's a lot people dying, there's a lot of children dying. Our future is dying,'' she said about the multiple shootings since her daughter's death. ''What is wrong with your guys? Where is your humanity? Where is your heart? Where is your soul?''
The Alvarez family is now focusing on the aggravated and asking the community for assistance in identifying him. ''Please assist us in our search for this person,'' Gwen asked on July 19. According to ABC 13 Houston, a $30,000 reward is now being offered to help identify the ''killer.''
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Earls's attorneys extended their condolences to the Alvarez family, but also said they believed Earls did what ''anyone in that situation would have done". They also threw shade at the DA, saying in a statement, ''We also hope that the DA's office will not be so hasty in the future to charge the best available person, but rather, the most appropriate one.''