HOUSTON – Cold case detectives have taken over the search for the person who killed 11-year-old Josue Flores three years after his death.
Josue was stabbed more than 20 times on May 17, 2016, while walking home from school in Houston’s Near Northside neighborhood.
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said cold case detectives are taking a fresh look at the case, and they need the community’s help to identify a person of interest in the case.
Authorities named two suspects, both of whom have since been released. The first was cleared by his alibi. The second, a Marine named Andre Jackson, was released a year after his arrest when investigators said DNA evidence made it impossible to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he is responsible for the crime. He is still a suspect in the case, prosecutors said.
Acevedo has said he believes Jackson was the right suspect, but with the inconclusive evidence, investigators need someone to come forward with more information.
VIDEO: Chief talks about Josue Flores case
“We’re not giving up,” Acevedo said, noting that detectives need to speak to several witnesses who wanted to remain anonymous when they were interviewed by the media after the stabbing.
During a news conference Friday, detectives showed video of a man jogging down a sidewalk in the area where Josue was killed moments after the stabbing. It was the same video that was circulated in the days that followed the crime.
“This is the person we want to speak to,” said Detective Ramon Cervantes, of the Houston Police Department’s cold case unit.
FILE VIDEO: New evidence in Josue Flores case
Acevedo said evidence has been sent to a lab in Utah in an effort to extract DNA from it. He said he is hopeful this will help close the case.
“We’re going to get you,” Acevedo said in remarks addressed to the killer. “Come forward now and ask for mercy.”
There is a reward of up to $5,000 for information that helps find the person responsible.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477.
Editor's note: The reward amount has been updated after Crime Stoppers corrected information originally provided by Acevedo.