Jury finds Andre Jackson guilty in 2016 killing of 11-year-old Josue Flores, sentenced to life in prison
The jury came to the verdict after just three hours of deliberations.
A Harris County jury on Tuesday found Andre Jackson guilty in the 2016 murder of 11-year-old Josue Flores.
On Wednesday, Jackson was sentenced to life in prison.
The jury came to the verdict after three hours of deliberation. The Flores family and the Jackson family both broke down in tears after the verdict was read.
The judge will handle the sentencing, which is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Jackson's punishment ranges from five years to life in prison. The Harris County District Attorney's Office is pushing for life.
Josue was walking home from school in May 2016 when his killer attacked him and stabbed him more than 20 times.
Andre Jackson trial timeline
Day 1 Opening statements
Monday, April 25, 2022
The first day of Jackson's trial consisted of opening statements in which the prosecution laid out why they believed him to be guilty. Jackson's defense refuted the prosecution's claims.
Day one also featured more than 10 witnesses, including a pathologist who described Flores’ injuries in detail; the police officer who found Josue unresponsive after the attack; and a crime scene analyst.
Prosecutors also called several residents who provided surveillance video to police. Those witnesses put stickers on a map showing where their cameras were in relation to Flores’ school and the crime scene.
Day 2 Never-before-seen video
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
On the second day of Jackson's trial, prosecutors presented never-before-seen surveillance video.
The new video shown in court was the last known video of Flores walking home from school just two blocks from where he died.
The court also saw the first known video of the man investigators said matches the attacker’s description. The video was taken after the murder ... just two blocks away.
That man is seen walking, looking at his hands and putting on a green jacket.
A member of the FBI’s crime scene reconstruction unit told the court just 3 minutes and 11 seconds separate two previously unreleased videos showing the final moments of Flores’ life and the first glimpse at the possible killer, each recorded two blocks from the crime scene.
Day 3 Witness testimony
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Four people took the stand on the third day of the trial. They said they saw and heard bits and pieces of what happened the day Josue was killed, but no single person saw it from start to finish.
The witnesses said they thought someone was just being roughed up, but found the little boy unconscious and covered in blood after his attacker ran away.
Another witness testified he heard the boy yelling, “Please, please, don’t kill me, take anything.”
He told jurors that when he stepped outside his house, he saw a man punching the kid and then took off running with the same green jacket seen in the surveillance video.
Day 4 Interrogation video
Thursday, April 28, 2022
On the fourth day of the trial, prosecutors played a video of detectives interviewing Jackson shortly after his arrest.
He admitted to investigators that he’s the man shown in surveillance images heading away from the murder scene but continued to deny accusations that he killed Josue.
When he was asked why he ran from the scene, he said he was afraid of retaliation.
"Wouldn’t you run if you just seen someone die?" he said in the video. "I obviously did not kill this kid."
"What am I gonna kill a kid for?" he said later in the video.
Day 5 Forensic experts testify
Friday, April 29, 2022
Tanya Dean, a Texas Department of Public Safety DNA forensic analyst, testified on the fifth day of the trial. She said the DNA on Jackson’s belongings was “inconclusive” when first tested. That’s why Jackson’s murder charge was initially dropped in 2017.
However, Sgt. Richard Rodriguez, a supervisor for Houston Police Department’s Cold Case Homicide division, testified he later had the sample sent to a Florida lab that had newer technology.
Jackson was re-charged with murder in 2019.
Prosecutors said the DNA in question was on the green jacket Jackson was seen wearing in the surveillance video.
During a police interrogation video taken shortly after Jackson’s arrest in 2016, and played again Friday, Jackson admitted to detectives he is the man seen running away from the direction of the murder scene just minutes after it happened on surveillance video.
Day 6 State rests its case
Monday, May 2, 2022
On the sixth day of the trial, a senior DNA analyst testified that her private Florida lab found some of Flores’ DNA on the cuff of Jackson’s green jacket.
Rachel Oefelein, of DNA Labs International, said 85% of the DNA belonged to Jackson, 10% to Flores, and 5% from an unknown person.
That’s evidence a grand jury saw in 2019 when they indicted Jackson on the current murder charge. In 2017, Jackson’s initial murder charge was dropped because DNA testing by Texas DPS came back inconclusive.
The Florida lab uses a newer technology called M-Vac, which collects DNA from porous and rough objects or surfaces.
Rodriguez told the court, “The technology is always changing from 2016 to 2019, and we wanted to see what else we could do to solve this case.”
Dr. Robert Benjamin, a forensic analyst and the first witness called by the defense, testified because of the small amount of DNA on the cuff, “the DNA could have come to be (on the cuff) in a variety of ways.”
Benjamin also said Josue’s shirt had too much mold growth to collect evidence.
“I would suspect, quite frankly, that it wasn’t properly dried before it was sealed,” Benjamin told the court.
Testimony continued later than usual Monday afternoon after Judge Denise Collins told Jackson's lawyers she wanted them to get through all of their witnesses so the defense can rest its case.
Day 7 A verdict is reached
Tuesday, May 3, 2022
On the seventh day of the trial, the jury found Jackson guilty after deliberating for just three hours.
Sentencing Families take the stand
On May 4, the judge sentenced Andre Jackson to life in prison.
During the sentencing phase of the trial, the families of Josue Flores and Andre Jackson took the stand.
Josue's father, Juan Flores, told the court the family moved from their home in an attempt to move past that horrible day.
"It’s been a long process," said Juan Flores through a Spanish translator. "It’s been something satisfactory and happy because justice has been done."
Josue's sister, Guadalupe, also took the stand. She cried as she described the pain her brother's death caused and how it inspired her to become a nurse.
“I wish I was there to just help him, made him feel better, but I can’t,” Guadalupe said. “Nursing to me is the next best thing. I can bring comfort to others when they’re alone.”
Jackson's defense called three witnesses in the sentencing phase, his mother, step-father and half-brother.
Darrell Dorsey called his stepson highly intelligent and "a role model to [his] kids."
The two were deployed to the same Marine base in Iraq at the same time.
His mother, Michelle Dorsey, said Jackson struggled with the transition home.
"He wasn’t as talkative as he was,” she said. “He would keep to himself. He wouldn’t come out of the room. He wasn’t eating really. So, I definitely had concerns."
Both his mother and step-father said they couldn't believe it when Jackson was charged with murder.