Posted on 06/17/2006 4:14:34 AM PDT by cbkaty
Harris County prosecutors decided to file aggravated robbery charges in a deadly carjacking because the evidence did not show the attackers intended to kill a little girl, a key element for a murder charge, officials said.
"It doesn't sound like a serious enough charge — maybe that is what people's perception is," said Di Glaeser, chief of the major offender and special crimes unit of the Harris County District Attorney's Office. "I think, that if these people are guilty, they should receive the most serious punishment and that would be aggravated robbery."
Charged with aggravated robbery were Bakari Holland, 18; Koty Holmes, 19, and Rashard Renfro, 23. Holland also was charged with injury to a child. All three remain in custody in the Harris County jail without bail.
The three are accused of robbing Luis Garcia at gunpoint at a car wash in the 8300 block of Jensen late Tuesday night. When Garcia said he had little money, two of the gunmen forced his wife and four children from his Chevrolet Suburban. Garcia's 23-month-old daughter, Stephanie, was killed when she was run over as the robbers made their getaway.
Though the toddler was killed in the commission of a crime, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said, a capital murder charge would have been hard to prove.
"It would be very difficult to make a capital murder case that we could prosecute because it would require proving the specific intent to kill," he said.
Rosenthal said he had his best prosecutors working on the case and that "if they could have done something more serious they would have."
Glaeser said a capital murder charge would have required evidence showing the suspects set out to kill the toddler, but the evidence available did not sustain that charge.
"There are fewer elements to prove in an aggravated robbery and the same evidence would come out regardless of the charge during the trial, and so it is in our opinion a wiser decision to charge these three individuals with aggravated robbery," she said.
Aggravated robbery, like murder, is a first-degree felony. They carry the same punishment.
The three arrested have admitted they were involved in the robbery, said homicide investigator Darrell Robertson.
Robertson said the three also are under investigation for other robberies in the area, including one that was committed after the carjacking.
'Just a crime spree' "It seems to have been just a crime spree," he said. "They're riding around and picking what they believe is the weak and the easy pickings as they would put it."
The last three days have been exhausting for the Garcia family as they've tried to come to terms with the loss, made arrangements to bury their daughter in Mexico and learned of the arrests.
Garcia said he wanted justice for his daughter's death, but the news of the arrests offered little relief because it would not bring her back.
"What can I say? Nothing, only that God help them," Garcia said.
The arrests stemmed from tips made to Crime Stoppers, including one that placed the three and the vehicle in the area. On Thursday, Holland and Renfro were arrested at their homes and Holmes was arrested near his home.
Though Garcia told police he had been robbed by two men, most of the tips referred to three men. Robertson said the third suspect apparently was the getaway driver, but was as involved in the planning and commission of the robberies as the other two.
Police suspect the three were involved in several robberies in northeast Houston. Robertson said all three lived on the northwest side.
"At this time there are several robberies that we are looking at in and around the northeast and north area that we believe that these three are responsible for," Robertson said.
Driver confessed, police say Also, he said all three knew at some point that the toddler had been run over. He said Holland was charged with injury to a child because he confessed to driving the vehicle when the child was struck and killed.
He said Holland and Renfro were longtime friends, having known each other since middle school and that Holmes had recently joined them. None of the three were employed, he said.
"They didn't really do a lot of anything," Robertson said, "except hang around and plan out some crimes."
armando.villafranca@chron.com
Disgusting. Absolutely DISGUSTING !!
The father is more forgiving than I would be.
TX doesn't have any kind of homicide provision for a death that occurs during the commission of a felony?
"just a crime spree."
Yeah, I guess that's okay, then.
What are these apologists at the Harris County Prosecutors office thinking?
Yes...so I wonder.......if there is some other "in-the-hood" reason for not pulling the trigger on these......punks?
According to the coverage on some of Houston's TV stations, the alleged perps didn't have jobs and were living off the proceeds of their robberies.
something is fishy with this, they pulled a twoyear old out of a car and ran over her. Why not sencond degree murder? There's something else going on.
Child endangerment, resulting in Death?
Child abuse, resulting in Death?
Don't these apply? Lord knows in Indiana if you run a traffic light they charge you with 20 to 25 counts of anything they can attatch, then plead it all down.
This is one for the hispanic community....they should react the same as the black community would....had the child been black and the carjackers hispanic.....
If they do have a provision for this, however, and the DA's too missish to use it, they need a new DA.
It was late Friday night....the DA was tired....the staff just wanted a beer...so they wrapped up the quickest charge (least paper required)and headed to the local pub...where all had a good time......./s
Over the years of reading crime stories on FR I've noticed a lot of crimes take place at whatever thousand block address and not so many at say 52 Shady Lane.
A death occurred in the course of the commision that was indubitible caused by the commission of that crime. In most states that is felony murder. What is wrong in TEXAS of all places???
So they beat up and mugged a family, threw a two year old down on the pavement, jumped in the family's car, and ran over and killed the two-year-old...but they didn't mean to kill her?
Wouldn't a rational person expect that if they threw down a two year old in a parking lot or road near a car they were "carjacking", that the child might well be injured or killed by the car or another car?
In a common sense world, it would be easy to prove that such malicious disregard for life in the commission of a robbery does indeed amount to murder.
But no, not according the the grandly nuanced legal "meanings" employed by our jurisprudence.
Carjackers should be treated like horse thieves used to be treated! Carjacking will become less popular.
I thought there was a Federal charge that could be levied ... wasn't that Vermont death penalty case about carjacking? Checking ...
All the perps ought to be looking at imminent execution.
And the prosecutor at permanent employment picking up roadside trash after being convicted of malfeasance and dereliction of duty.
They were carjacking with guns drawn and an innocent child was killed in the process.
What more does there need to be?
They should never be free again. Ever.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.