Texas – In a heartbreaking case in Texas that has haunted a community for over two years, a jury has found a 35-year-old man, identified as T. Earls, guilty of manslaughter in the shooting death of 9-year-old A. Alvarez. The verdict came after less than an hour of deliberation, marking the end of a trial centered around a tragic misjudgment in February 2022.
Earls was charged with manslaughter for fatally shooting Alvarez while firing at a man who had just robbed him and his wife at gunpoint outside an ATM. The prosecution argued that Earls, after being victimized, made the reckless choice to shoot at a fleeing suspect — and continued shooting at a passing truck in which Alvarez was riding with her family. Prosecutors contended that while Earls may have initially felt fear during the robbery, his decision to open fire afterward was driven by anger and recklessness, not self-defense. “There is a right for a family to be able to drive down the block on Valentine’s night. Have you thought about that? The day of love,” Prosecutor J. Jordan told jurors during closing arguments. “They have a right not to have that man fire into his car because he’s pissed off. Make no mistake, that man was not fearful anymore. That man decided he was angry, and he was going to do something about it.”
Defense attorneys, however, argued that the true cause of Alvarez’s death was the still-unidentified man who committed the armed robbery. “I’ve never heard the state give so much benefit of the doubt to an aggravated robber in this case,” said Defense Attorney E. McClees. “And the reason they are doing that is we know good and well the robber should be in this chair.” Despite the defense’s insistence, surveillance video presented during the trial showed that Earls was the only person who fired a weapon that night.
The deadly sequence of events unfolded on the night of February 14, 2022, as Earls and his wife were making a withdrawal at an ATM. An armed man approached, held a gun to Earls’ wife’s face, and demanded money. The couple complied, handing over cash. According to Earls, the robber then began to walk away while firing shots, prompting him to pull out his own gun and return fire. But when Earls fired again, his bullets were not aimed at the robber. Instead, he shot at a pickup truck passing by.
Inside that vehicle was Alvarez, riding in the backseat with her family. They were on their way to get pizza for a family dinner. Alvarez, wearing headphones, did not hear her father’s urgent warnings to get down. A bullet struck her in the head and another hit her in the arm. Emergency responders rushed her to the hospital, but she succumbed to her injuries the next day. Earls did call 911 following the shooting. “A guy pulled up. He put the gun up to my wife’s face,” he told the dispatcher. “I had my gun in my waist… and when he got ready to leave, he started shooting. So I draw my gun and I shot back.” However, prosecutors said the evidence clearly contradicted that narrative, showing that only Earls had fired.
Alvarez was a fourth-grade student at a local elementary school. Described by her family as a bright and loving child, she loved making nail tutorials, playing with her cousins, and helping her mother care for her baby brother. She “was the center of attention any where she went. A true angel,” her family wrote in her obituary. The sentencing phase of Earls’ trial began the day after the verdict. He now faces up to 20 years in prison for a split-second decision that ended a young life full of promise.
