Tony Earls Jr. Found Guilty of Manslaughter in Girl’s Death

HOUSTON, Texas – Tony Earls Jr. was found guilty of manslaughter on Tuesday in the 2022 shooting death of 9-year-old Arlene Alvarez. The verdict came after hours of jury deliberation.

During the trial, Arlene’s family was present in the courtroom as the jury read the verdict. Earls appeared emotional, shedding tears shortly after the decision was announced. The case focused on whether Earls acted recklessly when he fired into a pickup truck he thought was involved in a robbery.

Earls claimed he had just been a victim of a robbery at an ATM and believed that the Alvarez family’s truck matched the description of the getaway vehicle. Arlene was in the truck with her family when the gunfire occurred.

The defense argued that Earls made a “mistake of fact,” insisting that his belief that the truck contained the robbery suspect was genuine. They contended that his actions were a traumatic rather than a criminal response. To support this defense, they called a psychologist and a crime scene reconstruction expert to testify after the prosecution rested its case.

Prosecutors, however, countered that the robbery suspect had already fled the scene by the time Earls opened fire. They maintained that no matter Earls’ beliefs, shooting into a moving vehicle in a public area was a reckless act.

Throughout the trial, jurors reviewed surveillance video, photographs, and various evidence, along with testimonies from investigators and expert witnesses. Now that a verdict has been reached, the trial will move to the punishment phase. The jury will decide how long Earls will serve in prison.

A manslaughter conviction typically carries a sentence of two to 20 years, but because Earls has no previous felony convictions, probation is a possibility for him.

The trial began on Wednesday, September 17, and included emotional testimony from Arlene’s father about his actions immediately following the tragedy.