Arlene Alvarez killed: Harris Co. grand jury declines to indict robbery victim who shot 9-year-old
By Pooja Lodhia
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HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A grand jury declined to indict Tony Earls in the fatal shooting of 9-year-old Arlene Alvarez, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.
On Tuesday, a Harris County grand jury no billed Earls.
Arlene was shot and killed by Earls as he attempted to stop a robber in southeast Houston on Feb. 15, according to authorities.
According to investigators, a man and his wife were in their vehicle in the drive-thru of the ATM, when another man walked up to him and robbed them at gunpoint. Earls allegedly got out of his vehicle and shot at the robber running away and then at a pickup truck that Earls thought the robber was getting into, police say.
Earls, 41, was charged with aggravated assault with serious bodily injury in connection with the shooting.
“Our hearts go out to the Alvarez family because Arlene’s death is a tragedy that is unimaginable,” Ogg said. “We are focusing all of our efforts on finding the suspect who set this chain of events in motion and bringing him to justice.”
Ogg noted that grand juries are composed of randomly selected citizens who hear all of the evidence in a case in secret.
Grand jurors have presented all the evidence and asked to determine if there was sufficient evidence for a criminal charge. Grand jury proceedings are secret by law.
Houston businessman Tilman Fertitta donated $25,000 to offer a reward for information leading to the arrest of the original robbery suspect.
The robber has still not been found, and there is a huge push to find that person. Surveillance video has been released of the suspect, but no arrests have been made.
The Alvarez family said in a previous report that Earls was not justified in firing the shots that killed Arlene.
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