HOUSTON – Nearly six years after Josue Flores was stabbed to death during his walk home from school, community leaders say calls for justice have grown louder.
“There’s nothing that can be scripted when it comes to finding justice for Josue Flores. This little boy who was murdered and who was brutally attacked for no reason at all,” said Jose Vega, a member of Greater Houston LULAC District 18. Vega also serves as a spokesperson for Josue Flores’ family.
“It really hurts. He was our baby,” Vega said.
Opening statements in the trial of Andre Jackson, the man accused of killing the 11-year-old, concluded Monday.
The trial had been postponed, amid a case backlog blamed on the pandemic.
Vega said the length of time has led to angst in the Near Northside community among residents who had hoped for justice sooner.
Jackson was initially arrested in 2016, but those charges were dropped due to what investigators said was a lack of conclusive DNA evidence on a green jacket Jackson was accused of wearing the afternoon of Josue’s murder. He was re-arrested in 2017 after the jacket in question was sent for additional DNA testing at a laboratory in Florida.
The jacket and DNA results collected from it will serve as key evidence on both sides of the case, as it was brought up by both the prosecution and the defense during opening arguments.
Vega said the jacket, DNA testing, and its role in the case have concerned the community.
“They had to send the evidence over to Florida, and that’s something that bothers us as a community,” Vega said.
He also added that the initial police investigation also bothers the community because the first detectives assigned to the case didn’t speak Spanish in a primarily Spanish-speaking community.
“The first three detectives did not speak the language that most of the community did speak so they couldn’t even communicate,” Vega said, adding there’s still a lot of pain almost six years later — trust issues — too — in the neighborhood.
Justice for Josue is the plea, however, the hope is safety for all children.
“He was someone who wanted to be a doctor, who wanted to save lives, yet, his life was taken,” Vega said.
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