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brandi

christ on a cracker
Houston police have identified a man in connection with the stabbing death of an 11-year-old boy.

Police have named Che Calhoun, 31, as a suspect in the killing. He has been charged with murder in the case. Calhoun has not yet been arrested, officials said.

Police and family members said Josue Flores was stabbed to death while walking home from Marshal Middle School Tuesday afternoon.

Police said Josue was walking down Fulton near James when a man walking in the opposite direction suddenly crossed the street and repeatedly stabbed the boy. Sgt. Tommy Ruland said the attack was "unprovoked." Investigators have no known motive.

Police said according to several witnesses, they heard loud screaming and saw a man and Josue struggling. Josue then collapsed on the grass near the sidewalk and the man ran, police said.

Josue was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital to be treated for multiple stab wounds where he was pronounced dead.

"He was in sixth grade," said Flores' sister, Sofia Flores. "He wanted to be a doctor, he wanted to help people."

Sofia Flores, 16, said her brother had no enemies and was only two blocks from home when he was attacked.

"Everyone liked him," said Flores.

The boy's brother-in-law, Isidro Barrera, also struggled to understand why Josue would become a target.

"He don't have a phone, he didn't own an iPad, a laptop, anything. The only electronic he ever had was provided by the school," said Barrera.

Police said there were witnesses to the murder and described the attacker as an African-American man between 25 and 30 years old, weighing between 180 and 200 pounds, with short hair and wearing a black shirt and black pants. Police said he was last seen running from the neighborhood.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/man-stabbed-to-death-in-north-houston
 
I'm really without words.

I always try to spin these stories so that the victims are hero's...instruments of God.

While I realize that parents and loved ones are suffering, I hope they see it that way too,

eventually. That their son was used for something good...they have a man in custody, where he'll

stay because that is where he belongs and this child helped with that...had a higher purpose.

I know that some of you don't believe in God, but my faith is strong in that I believe God needed

this kid for something pretty important.
 
Charges dropped

HOUSTON (KTRK) --
A bombshell development in the stabbing death of an 11-year-old boy as murder charges are dropped against his suspected killer.
Eyewitness News has received a copy of the dismissal. It reads, in part, that "probable cause for arrest existed, but defendant has provided alibi to HPD that has been verified."

Calhoun was arrested on Tuesday, a day after the deadly stabbing of sixth grader Josue Flores.


http://abc13.com/news/charges-dropped-against-suspect-in-boys-deadly-stabbing/1347642/http://abc13.com/1347642/
 
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The 27-year-old man arrested in connection to the stabbing death of 11-year-old Josue Flores appeared Saturday afternoon in probable cause court, where a judge read him his charges.

Andre Timothy Jackson Jr. is charged with murder.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office request for a $100,000 bail was approved.

"When (Jakson and the victim) intersected, (Josue) was stabbed by the adult male multiple times," a prosecutor said, referring to the moment Jackson and Josue met.

In court, Jackson admitted to being in the area at the time of the crime. However, he did notadmit to killing Josue

The prosecutor said, "There were a number of witnesses in the area, who heard the confrontation and were able to give police a description of the individual who had attacked the boy."

In court, investigators said Jackson was spotted wearing the jacket at least five times on surveillance footage at various businesses in the area. Eventually, Houston police were able to identify him after he used his debit card at an ATM. With that information, officers later discovered Jackson was staying at a local Salvation Army.
[doublepost=1497550872,1465101779][/doublepost]
HOUSTON - A bill named for the 11-year-old who was stabbed to death as he walked home from school is now state law.

The Josue Flores Act provides transportation funding for children who live within walking distance to schools in dangerous neighborhoods.

School districts or counties can apply for up to 10 percent of their regular transportation budged to be used for transporting children or funding programs, like Safe Walk Home Northside, which escort children to and from school.

Stella Mireles-Walters, who founded Safe Walk Home Northside, joined with other community leaders to celebrate the new law which they pushed legislators to implement.

The law takes effect this fall


https://www.click2houston.com/news/...who-was-stabbed-to-death-takes-effect-in-fall
 
I'm glad to hear about the increased funding for safe transportation to and from school. I think this is really important in some neighborhoods.
 
I was shocked to find out california schools cut the funding for bus rides to and from school.
Parents have to pay or drive their kids.
 
yeah, and depending on the part thanks to new head of schools many people are going to be taking any and all of their tax money and more and be going private which will further erode school systems
 
I was shocked to find out california schools cut the funding for bus rides to and from school.
Parents have to pay or drive their kids.


It's been that way in Colorado ever since I moved here in 2007. You have to live a certain distance away from the school to be eligible and then you still have to pay for the bus. Its not all that cheap either. It's a lot cheaper than the public buses though.
 
Murder charge dropped in fatal stabbing of Houston boy, 11

A murder charge has been dropped against a homeless man accused of fatally stabbing an 11-year-old Houston boy as the child walked home from school last year, prosecutors announced on Tuesday.

DNA tests prosecutors received this week were inconclusive and there wasn't enough evidence to try 28-year-old Andre Timothy Jackson Jr. for murder, said Harris County First Assistant District Attorney Tom Berg.

Josue Flores, a sixth-grader, was killed as he walked home from a science club meeting at Marshall Middle School just north of downtown Houston on May 17, 2016. Authorities say the boy was stabbed at least 20 times.

Jackson is still a suspect in the slaying but authorities are essentially starting over with their investigation, Berg said.

"This was a very difficult decision we had to make... We are not forgetting Josue," he said.

Jerome Godinich, Jackson's attorney, said he was not surprised by the decision from prosecutors as he believed his client was not responsible for the boy's killing after reviewing evidence in the case.

"I think the DA's office made the right decision," Godinich said.

Jackson, who's been jailed on a $100,000 bond since his arrest, was expected to be freed later Tuesday.

Jackson, a Marine Corps veteran, had been arrested at the Salvation Army in downtown Houston, where he had lived for a couple of months.

Prosecutors had said Jackson admitted he was the man seen on a surveillance video near the crime scene.

But none of Josue's DNA was found on Jackson's clothing and no DNA from Jackson was found on the boy's clothing, Berg said.

"We are not saying that Andre Jackson is innocent and is excluded as a suspect," said TiffanyDupree, the prosecutor handling the case. "We're just saying at this point, if we tried this case to a jury, we don't feel we could secure a conviction."

Godinich said he is not worried that Jackson will be charged again with the boy's murder.

The boy's family was disappointed but they want prosecutors to be able to prove their case and get "justice for Josue," Dupree said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/murder-charge-dropped-fatal-stabbing-houston-boy-11-48710316
 
The man who was accused of murdering 11-year-old Josue Flores three years ago and was later released has been charged again in the case.

Andre Jackson now faces a new murder charge. Houston police arrested him without incident Tuesday morning in Baytown.

Josue was stabbed to death while walking home from Marshall Middle School on May 17, 2016, in north Houston.

Witnesses said in his last moments, Josue could be heard screaming, "Don't kill me, please!"

"We were able to make a case to the grand jury that Jackson is in fact the murderer of Josue Flores," said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.

Jackson was initially arrested and charged on June 3, 2016 for the murder, but the charges were dropped.

Then this year, on the three-year anniversary of Josue's death, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo and cold case detectives reiterated that Jackson is still a person of interest in the case.

Acevedo said in May that advances in DNA technology could help point to Josue's killer.

After Acevedo's comments, Jackson claimed his innocence in a 10-minute YouTube video.

"I am innocent and need the public to understand institutionalized racism and systematic prejudice, which will be the topic of a book that I am publishing," Jackson said at the time.

Jackson also claimed he was being "harassed."

"I have nothing to do with this case. You can stop considering me a suspect. You can stop mentioning my name in this case," Jackson added.
 
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Opening statements are expected get underway on Monday in the murder trial for a man accused of stabbing and killing an 11-year-old boy who was walking home from school.

Josue Flores' death shook Houston in 2016. He was stabbed more than 20 times as he walked home from Marshall Middle School.
Surveillance video showed Josue walking along the sidewalk moments before he was attacked. He was just blocks away from his home.


A neighbor who witnessed the attack told ABC13, before the 11-year-old collapsed on the ground, he said, "I just want to go home. I want to go home."
The neighbor flagged down other drivers to help Josue and then got into his car and started chasing after the man who stabbed him. Unfortunately, the man got away.

The next day, based on witness tips, Houston police arrested a man. However, he was released two days later after his alibi checked out.

Three weeks after that, HPD arrested former Marine Andre Jackson.

A year later, charges against Jackson were dropped after DNA tests on his jacket came back inconclusive.

Jackson proclaimed his innocence.

"I'm just tired of hearing my name associated with this case," he said in a recorded video he posted to YouTube.

Then, in 2019, Houston Police's Cold Case Unit took up the case.
The team re-tested Jackson's jacket using new, more sensitive technology.

"The evidence came back positive that there was Josue's blood on the defendant's jacket," Sgt. Richard Rodriguez said. "Three years had elapsed, and as you know, DNA technology has advanced a lot just in those three years."
Sgt. Rodriguez has spent hours interviewing Jackson and reading his journals.

"I'm not a psychiatrist, I'm not a psychologist, I'm just going off what I feel as an investigator," he said. "I think when he was out and about, everything just kind of came together at one time and for whatever reason he just snapped. Unfortunately, Josue was just at the wrong place at the wrong time and he was just a truly helpless, innocent victim that he could have complete control over, which is what he did. He controlled him and took over and took away his life."
 
In opening statements, the defense attorneys questioned the DNA evidence used to link that blood to Jackson.

We expect the state to call more witnesses on Tuesday as prosecutors try to convince the jury that Jackson is responsible for the murder.

Among the people who took the stand Monday was one of the first officers at the scene, who said he and his partner were flagged down by several people in the area where the murder occurred and were told a boy had been stabbed.

He recalled to jurors seeing Josue lying face down in the grass with his backpack still on and bloodstains on his clothes. He flipped the child over and saw several stab wounds on his chest and neck. The officer described Josue as not being responsive and gasping for air but not seeing his chest move. He described the child's condition as "dire" when he arrived at the scene.

That officer did not turn on his body camera when they arrived at the scene, but his partner did. That video has not been shown in court.

Another person who took the stand was a crime scene investigator. Jurors were shown photos of the crime scene, including one depicting a pool of blood on the sidewalk of Fulton Street in front of a home. The investigator testified that it was 23 feet from the blood on the sidewalk to where the child was found in the grass. Photos showed his zip-up Marshall Middle School sweatshirt and his backpack right next to a second blood spot where the initial officer found him.

Jurors were shown the backpack with blood spots on it and a hooded sweatshirt in court.

Josue's body had 22 wounds, according to the pathologist who conducted his autopsy. He said the child had injuries to his chest, back, arms and legs. The doctor testified this his aorta and lungs were perforated, and his liver had a single stab wound.

Jurors were shown photos taken during the autopsy of the 4'10" boy, who weighed only 78 pounds.

According to the pathologist, the deepest wound to Josue's body was four inches. He said the child likely did not die immediately, but his death was also not prolonged.

The pathologist testified that the boy's injuries were consistent with a knife, possibly a pocket knife.

Josue's manner of death was ruled a homicide, and his cause of death was determined to be from multiple sharp force injuries.

The medical examiner's office collected fingernail scrapings to collect any of the assailant's DNA that may have been collected. However, he was not sure if testing the samples turned up any evidence.
 
After a week of testimony and less than three hours of deliberations, a jury found Andre Jackson guilty of murder for the stabbing death of Josue Flores.

Josue, 11, was stabbed to death more than 20 times on May 17, 2016, on his way home from school. Jackson, who had steadfastly maintained his claim of innocence, broke down as the verdict was read in court Tuesday afternoon.

The case moves to the sentencing phase in which the judge could send Jackson to prison for anywhere from five years to life. This gets underway Wednesday afternoon, with Jackson's attorneys expected to bring in character witnesses from out of town.
 
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