News from the Lone Star State

[TexasStooge]

Greenville man charged over day center crash

GREENVILLE, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/The Dallas Morning News) - A 43-year-old Greenville man was charged Tuesday with intoxication assault and failure to stop and render aid in connection with Monday’s accident that injured two toddlers and two teachers at a day care center.

Richard Whytus remained in the Hunt County Jail in lieu of $180,000 bail.

Police said he slammed his car into Wee Wisdom Play School, on Moulton Street a few blocks north of Interstate 30, and then ran away.

He was arrested a short time after the 1:25 p.m. accident.

Fifteen-month-old Christian McIntosh was released Monday night from Children’s Medical Center Dallas, and another student was treated by a private physician.

Day-care owner Gayle Howell said both injured teachers -- Patricia Cooper, who was flown to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, and Betty McElwee, who was taken to Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville -- also were released from the hospitals Monday night.

[TexasStooge]

Police: Arlington 8-year-old may have been hanged

ARLINGTON, Texas (WFAA ABC 8/DallasNews.com) - Arlington police detectives are investigating whether foul play was involved in the death of an 8-year-old Arlington girl who may have been hanged.

Initial reports said that Angel Jack and her 5-year-old brother were playing with a rope about 6:15 p.m. Monday in the 6000 block of Ten Wood Court. Another family member found Angel unconscious and called paramedics. She died a short time later at MCA Hospital in Arlington.

Police Lt. Blake Miller said further investigation has found a possibility of foul play. Detectives will continue investigating the case to determine if this was an accident or if any criminal charges will be filed, he said in a news release.

The Arlington school district will have counselors available at Angel's school, Beckham Elementary, and at a sibling's school, Barnett Junior High. Administrators also will send letters out to parents to alert them to the death and counseling options.

[TexasStooge]

Alleged victim lashes out against former fire chief

By DAN RONAN / WFAA ABC 8

RICHARDSON, Texas - A man who said he was molested by the former Richardson fire chief lashed out at city leaders and told them the former fire chief does not deserve enhanced pension benefits.

Last month, the City of Richardson briefly rehired the controversial former fire chief Mike Jones so that he could receive his pension benefits.

However, James Lunsford, who said Jones abused him when he was a teenager, confronted city officials about giving the former fire chief the benefits.

"Exactly what forum is the right forum?" asked Lunsford after the council told him the council meeting was not the place to air his grievances. "Tell me exactly what is the right forum?"

One year ago, Jones resigned just hours after Lunsford brought forth his allegations.

Jones had also been investigated around the same time after firefighters accused him of repeatedly watching them as they showered.

"Monday through fire, [on] a daily basis," said Billy Whitson, Firefighter Union president. "Every shift had a problem with it."

Jones quit just days before coming eligible for enhanced pension benefits, but in December he was rehired and once again was eligible.

The mayor of Richardson said he was unaware of Jones' past. However, he said he didn't think the allegations should have been brought up at the council meeting.

"Mr. Lunsford, I don't think, I appreciate your issues [but] I really don't want to hear this at this meeting..." said Richardson Mayor Gary Slagel.

The city manager, Bill Keffler, who made the controversial decision to allow Jones back on the payroll, defended his decision.

"He needed an additional credit to complete his pension," Keffler said. "The facts of this issue need to be addressed in a court of law whether it is civil or criminal. The Richardson City Council cannot affect an outcome for Mr. Lunsford."

"I've waited a long time for this and you put me here," Lunsford said. "You are going to hear it. You are going to hear this. You are going to hear every bit of it."

Jones continues to serve as a city councilman in Wills Point.

[TexasStooge]

Police probe foul play possibility in girl's death

By KARIN KELLY / WFAA ABC 8

ARLINGTON, Texas - Arlington police told the parents of an 8-year-old daughter found near death Monday night after playing with her 5-year-old brother that foul play may have been a factor in her death.

"There are no words that can express the pain that we are going through right now," said Simon Ogbide, the girl's uncle.

The Jack family said an adult found Angel Jack unconscious with a rope around her neck after she had been playing with her little brother alone in a room in their South Arlington home in the 6000 block of Ten Wood Court.

"Initial reports were the kids were playing and somehow she hung herself," said Lt. Blake Miller, Arlington Police Department.

Paramedics rushed the 3rd grader to a hospital, but they couldn't save her.

"The medical examiner has ruled it an asphyxia death, but they have not ruled it whether it is going to be a homicide or accidental," Miller said. "And again, we are going to have to wait. It is really early in the investigation."

Angel Jack lived with her parents, a 13-year-old sister, a 16-year-old brother and the 5-year-old brother she was said to be playing with before her death.

No one has been able to explain as to why and how the rope was on the child's neck, but the family said that her strangling death was a tragic accident.

"The investigation is not making anything easier, and because this is an accident the father, the mom and the friends have no explanation," Ogbide said.

[TexasStooge]

Concern rises over state child care program

By BRAD WATSON / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Sherry Morden drops off her two-year-old daughter, Macey, and heads for her office job because most of her child care is covered by a federal program.

"All the help I needed was some place for the children to go, some place for them to be safe and nurtured and for me to be able to go back to work," she says.

The assistance helps parents who must get off welfare or those wanting to work.

It covers the child care cost for 79,000 Texas children.

Dallas County gets $48 million a year in federal money that covers the care for 14,000 children whose parents are working or in work training.

But the budget bill the U.S. house votes on this week cuts the growth in child care money, meaning some parents will likely lose the aid.

Nancy Bernardino, a mother with three in day care who's a Dallas ISD teacher, gives the bill a failing grade.

"I think I'd be out of luck and I'd probably be in line some, for a welfare program trying to get some other type of assistance," she says.

A non profit runs the Dallas program, the Child Care Group, and is urging parents to tell Congress to increase funding.

"Working is what drives our economy we need people to work we need people to be able to support that work so cutting that is really counterproductive," says Susan Hoff from the group.

Federal child care funds dropped the past four years and supporters of the program say it is time for that to stop.

[TexasStooge]

Jail expects influx of homeless

Dallas County: Closing city shelter may worsen crowding

By JAMES M. O'NEILL / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - Dallas County commissioners are preparing for an influx of homeless people to the county jail because Dallas officials have prohibited the homeless from spending the night at the city's Day Resource Center.

The commissioners are mulling how to improve the book-in process at the jail to identify homeless people and send those charged with minor offenses to the county's court diversion program, which handles cases involving the mentally ill.

But the diversion program already faces a daunting task, officials say: how to find appropriate housing for those enrolled.

On Tuesday, 297 jail inmates identified themselves as homeless. The swollen jail population, hovering at more than 7,000, has forced the county to open four floors of the overflow Decker jail facility since last summer, at a cost of $1 million per floor each month.

The city's decision to bar the homeless from sleeping overnight at the resource center is "definitely a problem for us – we're keenly aware of it," Commissioner John Wiley Price said. "We're trying to get our arms around what's happening at the jail and how to manage that population."

The prohibition, which goes into effect tonight, stems from an agreement with the building's owner after neighboring businesses complained that homeless people were littering and hanging around their properties.

Officials worry that some homeless people will prefer to remain on the streets at night rather than submit to rules imposed by the city's faith-based private shelters. To counter the effects of their antipsychotic medication, some mentally ill people must take tranquilizers to sleep, which makes it harder for them to abide by early wake-up rules in these shelters, said County Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Kristin Wade, who handles the court diversion program.

More homeless people on the streets could lead to more public nuisance calls and more arrests by police. Many homeless people, who have few financial resources, are unable to post bond or pay the fines that would get them out of jail quickly. They instead work off their fines with days in jail – inflating the already crowded jail's population.

The jail is also grappling with an alarming number of staph infections among inmates, many of whom bring the infection with them from the streets. County Judge Margaret Keliher said that identifying and diverting the homeless – who often have no health care and might bring staph into the jail – might help curtail the outbreak.

Adding homeless cases to the mental health diversion program makes sense, because in many instances homeless people also suffer from mental illness.

In exchange for staying out of jail, mentally ill people enrolled in the diversion program must adhere for a year to a plan laid out by the court, the district attorney's office and caseworkers, who monitor whether participants are taking prescribed medications, staying off nonprescription drugs and attending clinics that help burnish their coping skills. Enrollees must also agree to frequent court dates to provide the judge with progress reports.

The mental health diversion courts handle about 85 cases per month, up from just a few dozen when the program began in 2004. But given the demand, the numbers are still small.

Judge Wade said closing the city shelter at night "is bound to have an impact" on the number of mentally ill facing misdemeanor charges.

"It would be great if we could expand the diversion program to help more people," she said.

But diversion's success relies in large measure on finding appropriate housing for those enrolled, she said.

Many enrollees get about $500 a month in Social Security disability payments. Because few employers are willing to hire them, they have no other income, so they wind up in boarding houses.

"And the influences in some of these places is bad," Judge Wade said. "They are exposed to a lot of illegal drugs, and they get bored. The boarding homes are such bleak places. They don't ever see a quality of life worth striving for."

She also said there are too few workshops or job opportunities for the mentally ill, especially compared with programs set up to aid the mentally retarded.

Mr. Price agreed. "Diversion doesn't do us any good without the housing component," he said. "Otherwise, divert them where?"

[TexasStooge]

Tightened alarm rules apply today

Dallas: Police no longer must answer all burglar alerts at businesses

By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS, Texas - For Dallas police, today is the day they may begin to ignore some burglar alarms.

A controversial new policy no longer requires officers to respond to activated burglar alarms belonging to businesses that renew their alarm permits.

Alarm companies, which now find themselves contracting with private security guard firms to provide alarm response, say they're not ready for the transition to the city's new restricted alarm policy.

Especially south of Interstate 30, there aren't enough guard companies to adequately cover all businesses, said Chris Russell, president of the North Texas Alarm Association.

His industry lobbied City Hall last month to push verified response's start date back to June 1, but City Manager Mary Suhm said there would be no such delay.

"We just didn't have enough time to ramp up," Mr. Russell said. "The ones that suffer? The alarm users. People will be less safe."

Due in large part to Dallas' 97 percent false alarm rate, the City Council voted 8-5 in December to institute a "verified response" policy, under which police respond only to alarm panic buttons and calls in which someone has identified a suspected break-in. Police resources are better used elsewhere, a majority of council members determined.

As it is, months will pass before Dallas police stop responding to all commercial burglar alarms, as most still operate with a valid permit issued before verified response took effect, Police Chief David Kunkle said.

The new policy will apply once current business alarm permits are renewed.

Officers may also use their discretion to respond to burglar alarms in high-crime areas or at businesses that have been regularly burglarized, Chief Kunkle said, adding that police will still receive notice of burglar alarms even if they do not respond to them.

"Our guys like catching burglars and making those kind of arrests, but they don't want to be out there wasting their time, either," Chief Kunkle said.

"I respect how the chief is doing it," said Steve Salazar, the council's public safety committee chairman. "We expect that the false alarms will go down and expect that officers will have more time to patrol."

Mr. Russell said Tuesday that city officials told him they would continue to respond to all burglar alarms at businesses that renew in February through the end of the month. City officials did not immediately confirm that.

Based on experience in other cities that have instituted verified response policies, David Simon, a spokesman for Brinks Home Security, expects the company's business in Dallas "will experience a slight downturn, and then it turns around in several months."

Officials at three local security guard companies, who declined to be identified, each said they were scrambling to hire more guards and meet new demands of alarm companies.

The council will keep watch on verified response's progress, and adjust it according to its successes or problems, Mr. Salazar said.

"If it's a total bust, the council will go back and review it," he said. And if it proves particularly successful, he said, the council may consider expanding the policy to residential burglar alarms as it had initially planned, before scaling back its scope.

[TexasStooge]

Panel weighs 1% business tax

New franchise levy sought as part of school finance plan

By TERRENCE STUTZ / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN, Texas – The governor's tax-reform commission is considering a new state business tax of around 1 percent on the gross income or gross receipts of all corporations and partnerships on their business in Texas, the panel's chairman said Tuesday.

It would provide breaks for companies with facilities and employees within the state, said the leader, former state Comptroller John Sharp.

He said the Texas Tax Reform Commission is zeroing in on a replacement for the current business franchise tax that would help raise the revenue needed to cut school property taxes by an estimated $5.8 billion a year – a reduction of about a third.

The new franchise tax could be kept at a low rate because it would affect virtually all businesses except for sole proprietorships – a notable contrast to the current franchise tax, which Mr. Sharp estimated that more than 90 percent of businesses avoid through loopholes.

"You can drop the franchise tax from 4.5 percent to 1 percent if everybody participates in the system," said Mr. Sharp, whose panel will make recommendations to Gov. Rick Perry and the Legislature. Their proposal will also include a mix of consumer and business taxes.

At the same time, Mr. Sharp added, the new business tax would be friendly to companies that invest in the state and hire a large number of Texans.

"We're looking at a tax that lets you base your deductions either on the cost of goods sold or on the personnel you employ," he said. "For every person you hire, your taxes would go down."

"If you're out of state and you sell products in Texas but you manufacture those products in California, you're going to pay higher taxes than if you had built a plant in Texas and hired people in Texas," he said. "If all your buildings and employees are sitting up in Chicago, you're going to pay more."

That approach, the former state comptroller noted, means that a business tax based on payroll – such as was considered in the Legislature last year – is "not on the table."

He also said the tax reform commission is shying away from using "net income" as the basis for the new business tax because it raises legal questions about expanding the tax to businesses that are not currently paying it. Although net income is part of the current franchise tax, the state constitution requires voters to approve any new state tax on income.

"We don't have time to have a vote," he said, noting that the Texas Supreme Court has ordered the Legislature to fix the funding system for public schools by June 1.

Mr. Sharp outlined some of the tax options in a speech to school superintendents and administrators from across the state during their annual mid-winter conference in Austin.

While opposition from business groups helped kill a proposed new franchise tax in the Legislature last year, Mr. Sharp said an increasing number of business leaders "are coming up to me and saying it's time" to revise the state's tax system so that all companies pay their fair share.

The tax commission will continue to hold public hearings around the state through February. It will send recommendations to the Legislature by the end of March.

[TexasStooge]

Former employee sues Texas Lottery Commission

AUSTIN, Texas (The Dallas Morning News/AP) – A former Texas Lottery Commission employee has sued the agency, alleging she was fired after accusing her boss of mistreating her because she is Hispanic.

Cindi Suarez, a former administrative assistant in the lottery's human resources department, was fired in June, two weeks after she'd gotten a nearly perfect employee evaluation.

In a letter informing Suarez of her termination, administrative division director Mike Fernandez gave no reason for her dismissal, saying only "it is in the best interest of the Texas Lottery Commission that your 'at will' employment be terminated as of July 1, 2005."

Suarez, who filed the lawsuit Thursday, is seeking reinstatement, lost wages and compensatory damages. She said it took her five months to find another job.

"It's a tough job market out there," she said Tuesday. "You suffer financially and emotionally. For what I had to go through for those five months, it was wrong. I was an excellent employee."

Lottery spokeswoman Leticia Vasquez said she couldn't comment on pending litigation. In the past, lottery officials have defended the agency's practices, saying such firings are protected by Texas employment law.

In her lawsuit, Suarez said her supervisor, the agency's human resources director, often criticized, belittled and yelled at her and other Hispanic support staff members. She said white employees were not treated that way.

Suarez said she complained to Fernandez in late May and was fired about a week later.

After she was fired, Suarez and other former lottery employees complained to lawmakers that the agency uses the threat of at-will terminations to scare and intimidate anyone who raises questions about its operations.

In every state but Montana, employees work at the will of employers, meaning employers have the right to fire workers at any time for any lawful reason. Exceptions vary from state to state, and employers can waive that right in a negotiated contract, such as one with a union.

The state auditor's office is investigating the lottery's human resources policies. Its report is tentatively scheduled to be released in May.

[TexasStooge]

Houston man executed for double slaying

HUNTSVILLE, Texas (The Dallas Morning News/AP) – A prayerful Jaime Elizalde Jr. was executed Tuesday evening for the fatal shooting of two men outside a Houston cantina more than 11 years ago.

In a brief final statement, Elizalde thanked friends for their support and urged fellow death row inmates to "keep the faith and stay strong and put your faith in the Lord."

"Many times in life we take the wrong road and there are consequences for everything," he said. "Mistakes are made but with God all things are possible, so put your faith and trust in him."

Elizalde said that inmates talk about Supreme Court reprieves, but "the real supreme court you must face up there and not down here. The best reprieve is from God himself."

Elizalde also urged them to keep their heads up and stay strong and expressed his love. Then he began praying as the drugs were taking effect. Eight minutes later at 6:17 p.m. CST he was pronounced dead.

At the time of his arrest, Elizalde, 34, was on parole after serving almost four years of a 10-year term for cocaine possession and auto theft – a conviction he picked up at age 17. The double slaying culminated an argument days earlier between his father and one of the victims.

The lethal injection was the second this year in Texas, the nation's busiest capital punishment state. Three more inmates, among at least a dozen with execution dates in the coming months, are scheduled to die in February.

About 30 minutes before his scheduled execution time, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down late appeals attorneys filed in hopes of halting the punishment.

Elizalde's lawyers argued he could be mentally retarded and ineligible for execution. They also challenged Texas' use of lethal drugs as the execution method, saying they caused unconstitutional pain and suffering. The Supreme Court, within moments of the announcement of its ruling on Elizalde, stopped a Florida execution where an inmate raised a similar claim about the drug use.

State attorneys, in a court filing, said the mental retardation claim was meritless and "nothing more than a calculated attempt to postpone his execution." The injection complaint, they said, was frivolous and should have been raised years ago. They also argued Elizalde never exhausted administrative remedies within the Texas prison rules about the drugs used to kill him and wasn't entitled to court intervention.

Elizalde, who worked as a welder and dropped out of Houston public schools in the ninth grade, admitted in a recent interview from death that he was at the El Lugar bar the night of Nov. 5, 1994. That was a violation of his parole, but he said he was not involved in the shootings of Juan Saenz Guajardo, 29, and Marcos Sanchez Vasquez, 33.

"I don't know what happened," Elizalde said. "I had nothing to do with that. That was none of my business."

He did not testify at his capital murder trial. Two witnesses familiar with him identified Elizalde as the gunman.

"Everything was just hearsay and circumstantial," Elizalde said.

Jurors at his trial also were told of his leadership in the Mexican Mafia, a notorious prison gang. They also heard evidence of his involvement in assaults while in prison, including the stabbing of another inmate.

"Sometimes you do what you've got to do," Elizalde said. "Fear has never been something that's gripped me. Death comes to all of us. ...

"I've been in front of a gun where I've had the hammer come down and it didn't go off. I've been stabbed. I've been in so many fights. I've had to have my head sewn up. You have to adapt. So I can't really say I'm scared of dying."

Elizalde's father, who also was at the bar, was arrested in the case and jailed for some two years before he was released. Prosecutors said the father signaled his son, pointing out the victim, while heading outside. Both Elizalde and his father, who never was tried, denied any such signal.

Elizalde was set to die in November but received a reprieve after confessing to another killing that landed someone else in prison. He also said the man convicted of that slaying was responsible for the two killings that earned him a spot on death row.

When a judge called on him two weeks ago to testify about the other case, Elizalde cited his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to answer questions.

Next on the execution schedule is Robert Neville, 31, condemned for the 1998 abduction and torture slaying of a 19-year-old co-worker at an Arlington super market.

[TexasStooge]

Police seek suspect in teen's slaying

DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - Dallas police have named a suspect in the weekend shooting death of Samuell High School honor student Billy Colbert.

Investigators want 17-year old Avery Dewberry to turn himself in. They said he may be staying with friends.

Investigators believe Colbert got into an argument with Dewberry and three others Saturday night in the 10000 block of Neosho Drive in southeast Dallas.

Colbert, 16, was shot multiple times; he died a short time later at Mesquite Community Hospital.

Dewberry is described as 5'-9" tall, 142 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has a "YBC" tattoo on his right forearm and "Lil C" and "YGOC 65" tattoos on his left forearm. He was last seen near Bruton Road and Masters Drive.

Greater Dallas Crime Stoppers has offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in this case. Call 214-373-TIPS if you can help.

[TexasStooge]

Electric device masks pain

By JANET ST. JAMES / WFAA ABC 8

By some estimates, one in three adults experience pain every day.

Now, there's a way to treat chronic pain without pills but with the simple push of a button.

It takes all forms but some 70-million Americans are overwhelmed by it every day.

"Your focus is just this pain you have," says pain patient, Tammy Bethel. "There were days that I would just literally sit at my desk and cry."

Pain from a bladder disease called interstitial cystitis was excruciating and life-altering for Tammy Bethel. She tried pills, infusions, surgery, and relaxation without much relief.

But now, when her pain gets powerful, she calls for help. This is not a cell-phone - it's a remote control for a spinal chord stimulator.

Fort Worth pain specialist Michael Seibel says this pace-maker looking device is changing the way he treats patients. Instead of being connected to the heart, the electrodes are surgically strung beneath the vertebrae near the spinal chord.

"We're in the midst of a revolution in how to treat all types of pain with the use of this technology, " said Dr Seibel.

Pain is an electrical signal that travels along the spinal chord to the brain. The stimulator sends tiny electrical impulses to the nerves, masking those signals.

"The spinal chord stimulator changes the message. So instead of pain being the message that comes to your brain, the message is tingling. And what you feel is tingling, not pain," added Dr Seibel.

The spinal chord stimulator is now being used to treat back pain, shoulder pain, pain in the pelvis, bladder, abdomen, chest. It is also being used for migraines and shingles.

And Tammy Bethel can adjust the strength of vibration depending on the relief she needs.

"I was amazed at how great I felt. It gave me freedom back," she says.

She's gone taking at least a dozen pills a day to often taking none.

Implanting the spinal chord stimulator is outpatient surgery and considered fairly simple. It costs about $20,000 but insurance does cover it.

[TexasStooge]

Two charged over body found in Dallas

By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Two men have been charged with murder following the discovery of a body in a shallow grave in south east Dallas.

Bruce Wayne Potts, 34, of DeSoto and his relative Lavan Damon Potts, 29, of Wilmer are presently in custody after leading police to the body.

DeSoto requested Dallas police assistance in recovering the body, which is that of Sharon Witherspoon of Minnesota.

Until recently, she was living with Bruce Potts in DeSoto, who she had met over the Internet.

The body was recovered near the southern boundary of Cedar Crest Golf Course. Lumps of concrete covered the grave.

The victim is believed to have been killed in DeSoto and dumped in Dallas.

A third suspect is being sought.

An anonymous tip in DeSoto led police to the suspects. When police searched Bruce Potts' apartment, they found significant amounts of blood, as well as evidence of ID theft and forgery.

"We've been going 24/7 on the case for a while," said Lt Mike Sullivan, from DeSoto police.

Witherspoon had outstanding felony warrants in Minnesota and Texas.

[TexasStooge]

Dallas police target repeat offenders

By REBECCA LOPEZ / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Beverly Mendoza says she's frustrated. Her car has been broken into numerous times. She thinks it's probably the same people doing it.

"If they are caught then they are in and out of the system," she says.

Police agree. They say they are constantly arresting criminals wanted for multiple crimes only to see them back out on the streets within days.

"We have criminals in Dallas that are committing crime any time they are not in jail," said Dallas police chief, David Kunkle.

The Department believes a small majority of criminals are committing the majority of property crimes in Dallas. So, they've identified 60 repeat offenders. Those names have been given to the DA's office.

"Our goal is to target these offenders in the system and try to get max jail time or prison time," said Toby Shook, Assistant District Attorney.

On the list are criminals like former divorce attorney, Walter Kowalski. He got probation in 2000 for several theft cases and police say soon started committing crimes again. Now the DA's office is going for the maximum prison sentence.

"These are offenders who we feel can not be rehabilitated that are going to continue to commit offenses once they are released," added Shook.

Police and prosecutors hope by getting the worst offenders off the streets, they'll begin to see a reduction in crime.

[TexasStooge]

Man found not guilty in Haltom City teen's death

By DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News

FORT WORTH, Texas - A Tarrant County grand jury found Laverne Pratt not guilty on Wednesday afternoon of capital murder in the slaying of 14-year-old Lan Bui last year.

The jury deliberated about six hours before finding Mr. Pratt, 44, not guilty of the crime.

As the verdict was read, Mr. Pratt embraced one of his attorneys, Joetta Keene, and wept in her arms. Lan's mother, Vicki Rios, also cried.

"An innocent man was found not guilty today," said Ms. Keene. "The system worked."

Haltom City police centered their investigation on Mr. Pratt after his DNA was found on numerous items, including the girl’s purse strap.

Lan, a Trimble Tech freshman, was found Feb. 7 outside the Waldemar Apartments, where she lived with her mother and sister. Lan was fully clothed, bound, gagged and stabbed. Her throat and chest were cut, police said.

Mr. Pratt also lived at the complex.

In closing arguments Tuesday, defense attorneys argued that Lan had several enemies in the community and that the wrong man is on trial for the slaying.

Robert Ford and Ms. Keene told jurors that it was Mr. Pratt’s stepson, Gustavo Flores, who killed the girl.

“This case smells,” Ms. Keene said during closing arguments. “There is a killer loose in our community — Gustavo Flores. What is the motive for Laverne Pratt to tie up a little girl and slit her throat? They can’t prove this case.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr. Flores, 20, was called as a defense witness but declined to testify.

Defense attorneys had also called Lan’s sister, Lacey Lerma Burrell, who told the jury her sister had felt threatened by Mr. Flores.

Mr. Pratt will be released from the Tarrant County jail this afternoon and allowed to go home, officials said. Mr. Pratt, who has no prior criminal record, could have faced a life sentence if convicted. Prosecutors were not seeking the death penalty.

[TexasStooge]

Mexican flag placement spurs veteran protest

By GARY REAVES / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - In multicultural East Dallas, Louis Garza's big Mexican flag draws little attention because it is under the American flag. However, the tiny Mexican flag at the very top and above the American flag has sent veterans to his yard in protest.

Veterans from the Veterans of Foreign Wars post on Garland Road near Garza's home have expressed anger at the flag display.

"I told him bring the little flag down," said neighbor Elbert Wilson. "Put it below the American flag. That's where it belongs."

The little flag was Garza's compromise to the protest after he received complaint about the larger Mexican flag on top.

However, the veterans were not appeased.

"I went over there, I fought for the freedom in this country and I really think it shouldn't be messed with that way," said Shorty Galloway, a World War II veteran.

Galloway and his fellow veterans at the White Rock Veterans of Foreign Wars post revere the flag so much that many of them teach flag etiquette in local schools.

"I think he should show respect to us, the World War II vets, the Vietnam [vets], everybody and the guys over there now," said Ralph Brunson, World War II navy veteran.

Garza was born in Brownsville and said he flies the Mexican flag out of respect for his parents.

"They better find something to pick on that's worth while," he said. "That's just a flag up there."

However, Garza expressed no doubt about which country he prefers to live in.

"America of course, you couldn't throw me over that river," he said. "I don't even get close to Brownsville."

While Garza would prefer to fly the flags side by side like he does on his minivan, he said he can't on the flag pole and will stick to the three flag position he has now.

"The story is that's what I like and if someone don't like it they can sit on the other side of the street," he said.

[TexasStooge]

Clerk kills holdup man in Hurst

By CYNTHIA VEGA / WFAA ABC 8

HURST, Texas — A suspected holdup man was shot and killed late Wednesday after gunfire erupted at a Hurst convenience store.

Police said the would-be robber pulled a gun at the H.E.B. Food Mart in the 1600 block of Sotogrande Blvd. just before 11 p.m. and shot one of two employees.

The second employee produced a weapon and shot the robber in the chest as he fled.

The suspect managed to jump over a fence before collapsing. He died later at an area hospital.

The wounded employee fled to an apartment complex across the street and called for help. He was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. The employee was not identified.

Police said the robbery suspect, whose name was not released, may be linked to holdups in Hurst and surruonding communities. The same man may have been responsible for multiple holdups at the H.E.B. Food Mart.

Investigators were examining a security camera tape of the gunbattle for evidence.

[TexasStooge]

DART train, tour bus collide in downtown

By DAN RONAN / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - DART officials said the driver of a tour bus that collided with a DART train Wednesday night in downtown Dallas had run a red light causing the collision.

Just minutes before the accident, the driver of the charter bus had been ticketed by police for leaving the vehicle on the tracks at another intersection.

Three minor injuries were reported from the collision that occurred at Ervay Street and Pacific Avenue while the DART train carrying around 40 people was heading westbound.

"They don't stop on a dime and they can't...turn out of the way," said Morgan Lyons, DART. "They are on a track. The indications are you have a bus that ran a red light."

The Total Enterprises, Inc. bus, which was carrying only the driver, flipped on its side at the intersection after the two crashed.

"We heard the train operator hit his horn and then he hit the brakes," said DART train passenger Craig Bolander. "All the sudden just boom and we came to a sudden stop."

The bus driver was questioned at the scene, but she had no comment about what happened.

The bus is registered to a Rockwall leasing company and its registration sticker appeared to have expired last month.

Both the train and bus driver will be alcohol and drug tested.

Two weeks ago, a similar collision occurred in downtown between a DART train and an 18-wheeler. In that collision, at least seven were injured.

"Pay attention to red lights," Lyons said. "Red lights mean stop. It is real simple."

DART said as they resume their investigation Thursday, charges could be placed against the driver.

The northbound and southbound Red Line and Blue line routes were delayed for over two hours, but resumed their routes. Northbound trains were being stopped at the West End or Pearl Street.

[TexasStooge]

Price fights for school choice in cell phone ban

By BERT LOZANO / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - Some teachers in the Dallas Independent School District are fighting for a cell phone ban to get students to hang up and listen.

DISD began allowing cell phones on campus after 9/11 in case of emergencies, but students are supposed to keep the phones off and out of sight during school time.

However, DISD Trustee Ron Price wants a policy allowing individual campuses the option of banning cell phones and the school board will begin discussing a ban next week.

Off campus, Benitha Washington is free to talk on her cell phone, but at her high school it is another story.

"You're not supposed to, but people call me while I'm at school so I got to talk," she said.

Teachers at Lincoln High School once confiscated the twelfth grader's cell phone, so now she said she hides it to take calls.

"Most of the time I have on a hood and my jacket's zipped up, and there I go talking on the phone," Washington said.

But students said text messaging and cameras have become new tools used to cheat on tests as well.

"They switch phones, they text message the answers..." Washington said.

Principal Earl Jones said he constantly gets after students for using disruptive cell phones in the classroom.

"The main thing is the constant monitoring to ensure they are keeping them off and not using them," he said. "It's a difficult policy to enforce."

Price said he wants the district to allow individual schools to have the option to ban cell phones because of incidents involving gangs and drug dealers.

"We don't necessarily need to let a child have a cell phone at the school because right now they are using the phone for reasons they don't need to be using the phone," he said.

[TexasStooge]

Dallas SPCA puts new limited no kill policy in effect

By CHRIS HEINBAUGH / WFAA ABC 8

DALLAS, Texas - A limited no kill policy was put in effect at the SPCA Dallas shelter and the facility will no longer euthanize animals simply to free up space.

Reservations are now needed to drop off animals in part of their new policy as well in an attempt to curb overcrowding.

In the past people could come in off the street and drop off the animal with no questions asked. Under the new policy they must make a reservation, and they'll only get a reservation if there's room at the shelter.

In the past, those animals not adopted risked being euthanized to make room for new ones.

"No animal will be euthanized for space, and that is in its simplest form," said James Bias, president of the SPCA of Texas.

The SPCA said they hope the new reservation policy will make pet owners take more time to work with their animals and take responsibility for their pets instead of just dropping them at the SPCA.

But those policies may have an impact at the already overcrowded city shelters, or some owners may simply turn their pets loose.

Officials hope that won't happen and said they are watching for any negative impact on the city's shelters.

"Don't abandon your pet please that's the worse thing you could do," said Kent Robertson. "It's very had for them to make it out there."


WFAA ABC 8