May 1
TEXAS:
Hearne man indicted for capital murder--Victim's family asks Milam County
DA not to seek death penalty
The state won't seek the death penalty for a Hearne man accused of killing
two Minerva residents and shooting another.
Ben Contreras, 42, was indicted by a Milam County grand jury April 21 on
capital murder, attempted murder and the alternative charge of two counts
of 1st degree murder stemming from the beating and stabbing deaths of
Preston Solomon, 59, and his stepdaughter, Stephanie Young, 24, both of
Minerva.
Authorities also said Young was Contreras' estranged girlfriend.
A 3rd victim, Gail Salomon, sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and arm.
Milam County District Attorney Kerry Spears said that after several
discussions with the family of Preston Solomon and Stephanie Young, she
has decided not to seek the death penalty in the case.
"Anytime we're talking about plea offers or penalties we consult the
victims or their families and give great consideration to their feelings,"
Spears told The Cameron Herald. "It's a fair statement to say that the
death penalty is not something the surviving victim and other family
members were interested in pursuing."
The charges against Contreras stem from a Feb. 1 stand-off with
authorities at a Minerva residence. Stephanie Young was found beaten and
stabbed to death inside the residence.
Preston Solomon died at Scott & White Hospital in Temple on March 9 from
injuries sustained in an altercation with Contreras that preceded the
standoff. Solomon had been hospitalized since the Feb. 1 attack.
Incidents leading up to the standoff began at 6:48 p.m. Feb. 1 when
sheriffs department received a call from a motorist who discovered Preston
Solomon laying injured on the County Loop 232 roadway a couple of miles
from his home. Deputies had arrived at that scene and were attempting to
find out what had happened to him when a 7:14 p.m. 911 call alerted them
to a possible shooting in Minerva.
Arriving at the residence of Edric Solomon, deputies found his
sister-in-law, Gail Solomon inside the home. She had sustained a gunshot
wound to the chest and another in the arm while fleeing her home to escape
Contreras.
Deputies learned that the suspect, Contreras, was just down the road at
Solomon's mobile home and that Young and her three children were also
there.
Lawmen converged on that mobile home and found that Contreras was inside
with Young and the three children. Contreras initially refused to come out
of the residence and at one point, after communication was established,
told Milam County Sheriff Charles West that he had a child in his arms.
Contreras surrendered after authorities managed to get a cell phone inside
the residence to allow him to talk with West and several of his family
members.
Milam County Sheriffs Investigator Greg Kouba said that after a
disagreement between Contreras and Young, Preston Solomon was apparently
giving Contreras a ride to Cameron.
"At some point something happened and Preston stopped the car and the two
men got out on the roadway," Kouba said. "It was there that Contreras hit
Mr. Solomon twice in the head with a hammer and left him on the roadway."
Kouba said Contreras took Solomon's car and returned to the Solomon
residence where he apparently confronted Gail Solomon and Young.
West said that Mrs. Solomon sustained two gunshot wounds, but managed to
escape her residence and drive a pickup to Edric Solomon's home to summon
help.
Young and the children remained at the residence with Contreras.
Sheriff's deputies and as many as 12 lawmen from various agencies worked
into Wednesday morning to collect evidence and secure the crime scenes.
Under questioning, Contreras gave a verbal confession to all of the
offenses, authorities said.
(source: Cameron Herald, April 28)
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Police chase took life of man haunted by father's killing -- Family says
he never recovered after witnessing slaying as a child
Jose Armijo Jr. was 10 years old when he saw his father shot in the head
by a man who moments earlier had killed a Houston police officer on the
city's east side.
Since that night 23 years ago, Armijo refused counseling, kept his
emotions inside and drifted into a life of petty crime. It was that
lifestyle, family members say, that led to his death Monday when he
crashed a stolen truck during a chase by South Houston police.
Armijo Family
The shooting death of Jose Armijo, shown with his wife, Maria, is blamed
for altering the life of his son, Jose Jr. Armijo died at 33, the same age
as his father. Armijo's nephew, Jose Angel Coronado, 17, also died in the
crash.
"He would always say that he wanted to die, that he wanted to be with my
dad. On Friday (April 22), he said it again," Armijo's sister, Lupe Ortiz,
said Thursday just hours before she and other relatives were to attend a
double wake.
The murder of Officer James D. Harris in 1982 focused an international
spotlight on Houston. The convicted killer, Ricardo Aldape Guerra, an
illegal immigrant, was sentenced to death. After spending 15 years on
death row, his conviction was overturned, and Guerra was flown home to
Mexico. He received a hero's welcome but died 4 months later in a car
accident.
Armijo Jr., the key witness in Guerra's trial, was haunted by his father's
death and for many years lived in fear that his testimony would lead to
retaliation.
"He never wanted to get counseling. He never wanted to talk about it. He
kept it in," Ortiz said.
No one was ever charged in Armijo Sr.'s death.
Shooting altered life
Ortiz and her mother think Armijo Jr. would have been a different person
and led a more productive life had his father not been shot just one block
from the family's small wood-frame home.
"He was a good son, but he was never able to handle what happened to his
father," said Maria Esther Armijo, the mother of Jose Armijo Jr. and
grandmother of Coronado.
The life of the Armijo family was turned upside down on the night of July
13, 1982.
Armijo was driving about 10 p.m. in the 4900 block of Walker. In his car
were his 10-year-old son, Jose Jr., and daughter Lupe, 2.
They were returning from a trip to an auto-parts store and were just
seconds away from home when they stumbled on the shooting scene.
The boy later told police his father saw the danger in front of him and
put the family car in reverse. Two men were shooting their pistols and
running toward them - one of either side of Armijo's car. Shots were fired
at Armijo, and he was hit in the head.
Running from scene
Armijo had been struck just moments after Harris had been shot.
Harris, working alone, had pulled the men over after receiving a complaint
about a speeding vehicle.
The officer had one of the men against the car and was frisking him when
the other man got out of the driver's side, approached him from behind and
shot him three times in the head at close range.
By the time Armijo came driving down the street, Harris was dead and the
two men were running from the scene.
The frightened 10-year-old later picked out Guerra in a lineup as the one
who fired the bullet that struck his father.
Jose Armijo Sr. never recovered and died 7 days later.
About an hour and a half later, police found the suspects hiding nearby.
In a gunbattle with police, Guerra's companion, Roberto Carrasco Flores,
was shot and killed. Houston police Officer Larry Trapagnier was shot five
times in the stomach and chest but recovered. He still serves with the
department.
Trial testimony
The boy, a 3rd-grader at the time of the trial, would tell police:
"They were shooting at houses and then they saw us and my father said that
we needed to get out of there. My father put the car in reverse and we
started going backwards and the two men were chasing us. There was one man
on each side of the car and the man on my side of the car shot through the
front glass of the car.
"I heard my father yell and I thought he had been shot because the seat of
the car and his back had blood all over them."
During Guerra's trial, prosecutors had to explain the contradiction of how
the physical evidence pointed to Flores as the killer of Harris and
Armijo, both shot with a 9 mm handgun. The weapon was found under Flores'
body immediately after the shootout.
Prosecutors' theory
Harris' .357 revolver was found in Flores' trousers, and additional 9 mm
ammunition was found in a pouch attached to Flores' belt.
Prosecutors theorized that Flores passed the 9 mm gun to Guerra, who shot
the 2 and then switched guns again with Flores during the time they fled.
The jury believed the theory.
Guerra always maintained that he was a short-time acquaintance of Flores
and that it was Flores who fatally shot Harris and the father.
Defense attorney Candelario Elizondo, appointed to represent Guerra, said
the young Armijo's testimony helped lead to Guerra's conviction.
"There was no question. That's what sealed it - a little kid," Elizondo
said Thursday in recalling the trial. "We couldn't shake him. He was
positive it was him."
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Guerra's conviction in 1988,
although two justices dissented, saying they found it "utterly
inconceivable" that Guerra and Flores would have traded weapons between
the killing of Harris and the subsequent gunbattle with police.
Guerra came within 2 days of being executed in 1992. 2 years later, a
federal judge overturned his conviction and ordered a new trial, citing
misconduct by police and prosecutors.
International attention
The judge, Kenneth Hoyt, determined police had intimidated witnesses into
accusing Guerra as the shooter and that prosecutors had manipulated
evidence.
Guerra's case drew international attention because the Mexican national's
death sentence was not supported by Mexico.
Then- Gov. Ann Richards received thousands of letters from Guerra's
supporters and death penalty opponents.
International reports on the trial painted Guerra, a native of Monterrey,
Mexico, as a victim of "gringo justice." He received letters of support
from people in West Germany, Japan and Mexico.
The case inspired the writing of several corridos, storytelling songs in
Spanish, that were aired on Mexican radio stations, as well as
Hispanic-oriented stations in Texas.
Locally, the Movimiento Nacional de la Raza led marches and an intense
public education campaign on radio talk shows and Spanish-language
television in support of Guerra.
In April 1997, the Harris County District Attorney's Office announced the
charges against Guerra would be dropped.
A Mexican government airplane met Guerra at the border at Matamoros and
flew him to Monterrey.
He signed a contract to appear on a Mexican soap opera but died before
appearing on camera.
Never the same
Maria Armijo said she clearly remembers her son calling her after Guerra's
death.
"He said, 'Did you hear? He died in a wreck.' In his voice I sensed a lift
in his spirits," she said.
After her husband died, Maria Armijo said her son was never the same
jovial youngster.
His grades slipped, he dropped out of school and soon got into trouble
with the law.
"I would encourage him to study, and he would respond, 'What for? My
father is not here,'" she said.
Armijo Jr. worked a series of construction jobs and also did pipefitting.
He leaves 4 sons and 1 daughter, ranging in age from 17 to 7, his sister
Lupe said.
He would spend time with his nephew Jose Angel Coronado, the son of his
sister Gracie.
Gracie Armijo said her son had a brush with the law - an arrest on a
charge of public intoxication.
Angel, as he was known to the family, leaves a 2-year-old son.
Pair thrown from truck
The teen and his uncle were killed early Monday at Loop 610 and the Gulf
Freeway.
South Houston Police Chief Herbert Gilbert said an officer spotted a 1998
Chevy Silverado pickup at an auto mechanic business in the 300 block of
State Street about 12:30 a.m. The truck was parked with its lights off.
When the officer approached the vehicle, the driver sped away without any
headlights on, Gilbert said.
The fleeing men led officers onto the northbound lanes of the Gulf
Freeway.
Gilbert said the driver of the pickup, which hit speeds of 80 mph, veered
onto the Loop 610 West ramp and hit a guard rail. The truck flew over the
railing and landed on its roof. Both Armijo and Coronado, who were not
wearing seat belts, were ejected. They died at the scene.
Maria Armijo, sitting on her couch and dressed in black, said the deaths
are just the latest problems the Armijos have had to face.
'I'll go before you'
Doctors diagnosed her thyroid cancer in 1995. After radiation, the cancer
went into remission. But 2 tumors were recently detected in her throat.
She is scheduled to meet with her doctor this week to find out the biopsy
results and decide what course of action to take.
"I felt someday he would go but not so soon," she said. "I have cancer. I
told my son 'Don't worry. If I go (die), I'll take you with me.' He said,
'Maybe I'll go before you.'"
(source: Houston Chronicle)
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Death Penalty Mea Culpa --Houston Police Department inspires a "come to
Jesus" moment for former pro-death penalty liberal
I consider myself progressive; however, I used to be pro-death penalty. In
fact, only recently have I realized that I'm against capital punishment.
When I was a kid, I used to believe that the police were always the good
guys and the crooks [ especially those that are locked away - were always
the bad guys. To me, almost everything was black and white. I was shocked
out of this delirium by a few incidents involving the Houston Police
Department (HPD).
If you were to Google the names Jose Campo Torres, Ida Lee DeLaney, Byron
Gillum, or Pedro Oregon, you would find information and articles about
their untimely deaths at the hands of HPD officers.
In 1977, Torres was arrested, handcuffed, and beaten by HPD officers and
then thrown into a bayou where he drowned. In 1989, DeLaney, an
African-American woman, was chased for 13 miles by three drunken off-duty
HPD officers who beat and shot her to death. Her crime was unknowingly
cutting off the officers on the freeway, and fearing for and defending her
life (she fired at them while they chased her) against unknown assailants.
Less than a month after DeLaneys murder, Byron Gillum, also
African-American, died as a result of being shot 6 times, including 4
times in the back, by another Houston Police officer. Gillums crime was
speeding and having an "attitude" (according to the officer). In 1998,
Pedro Oregon was shot and killed after several HPD narcotics officers
illegally entered his home on a bogus drug raid. (Bogus because the
informant that took them to the residence was feeding the police a line to
cover his own ass, and because no drugs were found.)
Too often this has been how the Houston Police Department has handed out
justice. These have certainly been black eyes the department deserves, and
they are not the only ones.
More recently, the HPD has come under federal scrutiny because of its
crime lab and the incompetence at which it has been run. For me, this was
the absolute last straw that changed my mind about the death penalty.
Anti-death penalty advocates know that Texas executes more prisoners than
any other state. This year, of the 16 prisoner executions carried out so
far, 5 have been in Texas; tied for second are Indiana and Georgia with 2
each.
Harris County has sent more people - mostly people of color - to
Huntsville, Texas where the Texas Department of Corrections houses its
execution chamber. Former Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes
was given the nickname "Hells Gatekeeper" during his tenure because of the
number of inmates his office sent to death row. Guess which major
metropolitan city sits in the heart of Harris County...? Scratch that....
Houston is Harris County!
If you Google "HPD crime lab" you will begin to see the depth of the
ineptitude that is/was the HPD crime lab and its investigators. The
Houston Chronicle reported that the crime lab failed in February to regain
its accreditation, citing "problems with transferring evidence and
record-keeping," among other issues.
Like most people who are pro-death penalty, I believed that the number of
innocents being executed had to be relatively small. I would have assumed
less than one percent. Now I believe that even if that percentage was
accurate, the number of innocents killed is too high. I also believe that
the number of innocents sent to Texas death row is much higher than 1%.
Given that Harris County supplies the most occupants to the Texas death
chamber, and given that at least 1/2 of those are sent via the HPD
criminal investigating unit - the Harris County Sheriffs Department
supplies the other 1/2 - it doesnt take Quincy, Perry Mason, or Matlock to
conclude that several innocent people have likely been executed by the
state of Texas.
President Bush speaks of a "culture of life" and of "erring on the side of
life," yet while he was governor of Texas, he oversaw more executions
(152) than any other governor in recent history.
Sooner or later, conservatives are going to have to pronounce a "mea
culpa" of their own - especially when it comes to George W. Bush and his
administration. How do conservatives reconcile his words with his actions?
While he was claiming to practice compassionate conservatism, he was
mocking condemned killer Karla Faye Tucker. Im not saying that Tucker was
innocent, but again, it is more than arguable; it is probable that more
than 1% of those 152 executions were innocent of the crime(s) they were
convicted of and executed for. Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man
Walking, refuted Bush's claim that he took every execution seriously and
reviewed each case thoroughly while he was governor. She explains how
journalist Alan Berlow uncovered the fact that Bushs chief counsel,
Alberto "It-aint-torture-if-the-president-okays-it" Gonzales, presented
the information for review usually on the day of the execution. And we all
know about President Bushs attention to detail and love for reading.
It was the 2000 execution of Gary Graham (AKA Shaka Sankofa) that led me
to start re-thinking my position on the death penalty. At the time, I
believed that there was a chance that Graham/Sankofa was innocent of the
crime he was convicted of. I had simultaneous thoughts about his long
criminal history - much of which was violent. I remember thinking, "he may
be innocent of this crime, but what about all the other ones he is guilty
of?" Here was a man with a violent past, which he is about to pay for.
Then I thought, "but this is not what our criminal justice system is
about." Regardless of his other crimes, Graham was executed for a crime he
may not have committed. I am not trying to plead his case either way, but
there is considerable evidence and information that supports that
argument.
The problem in Texas is systemic in that a sentence of life without parole
is not even an option for juries hearing capital criminal cases. A change
in that is currently being considered. Governor Rick Perry (R) also
recently granted clemency for Frances Newton, whose case has information
that should at least raise doubts about her guilt. The prosecution
conveniently left some evidence out and Ms. Newtons court-appointed
attorney reportedly fell asleep during her trial. Newton is from Harris
County. HPD conducted the investigation. You do the math.
The death penalty could be considered in the most heinous cases. However,
not until prosecutors can prosecute without prejudice, and there is
absolutely no reasonable doubt over guilt, the death penalty should be a
last resort - in all cases where applicable. Given those criteria, perhaps
the death penalty should be abolished completely.
(source: Douglas Griffiin, CounterBias.com)
