JOSUE FLORES MURDER: Suspect charged in boy's stabbing death makes bizarre claim at court

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Andre Jackson appears in court, makes bizarre claim

ABC13 Eyewitness News learned the break in the Josue Flores murder case came when local investigators sent some of the DNA collected to DNA Labs International, a private company based in Florida.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The man charged again in the murder of 11-year-old Josue Flores made his first court appearance Wednesday.

ABC13 was there as a handcuffed Andre Jackson was walked out into the hallway and said what sounded like, "I'm Grace Jones' son," appearing to reference the supermodel. It's not clear why he made the claim.

His bond was set at $500,000.

WATCH: Andre Jackson at court

The suspect in the murder of 11-year-old Josue Flores walked past reporters at the courthouse

Jackson was originally arrested and charged on June 3, 2016 in the boy's stabbing death, but the charges were dropped.

He now faces a new murder charge after Houston police arrested him without incident Tuesday morning in Baytown during a traffic stop.

ABC13 Eyewitness News learned the break in this case came when local investigators sent some of the DNA collected to DNA Labs International, a private company based in Florida.

The company would not disclose how they were able to get the DNA match tying Jackson to Josue's murder.

Josue was stabbed to death while walking home from Marshall Middle School on May 17, 2016 in north Houston.

Witnesses said in his last moments, Josue could be heard screaming, "Don't kill me, please!"

A friend of the Flores family was in court Wednesday to show that the whole Northside community is standing with Josue.

"It's our turn to be his voice. It's our turn to support him, the family, and justice. We hope that justice prevails no matter what the situation is," Miguel Chavez said.

'The ultimate justice is when he's locked up in prison.' Andre Jackson was accused in Josue's murder before and has again been arrested.

"We were able to make a case to the grand jury that Jackson is in fact the murderer of Josue Flores," said Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg.

On the three-year anniversary of Josue's death, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo and cold case detectives reiterated that Jackson is still a person of interest in the case.

After Acevedo's comments, Jackson claimed his innocence in a 10-minute YouTube video.

"I am innocent and need the public to understand institutionalized racism and systematic prejudice, which will be the topic of a book that I am publishing," Jackson said at the time.

Jackson also claimed he was being "harassed."

"I have nothing to do with this case. You can stop considering me a suspect. You can stop mentioning my name in this case," Jackson added.

Last Friday, ABC13 Eyewitness News was the first to report that investigators discovered new physical evidence in the murder case.

Now Jackson has been charged. Police said they had him under 24/7 surveillance for several days.

Ogg said that though she is not allowed by law to discuss the specifics of the grand jury proceedings, she pointed again to the newly-tested evidence.

"I am willing to stand with these prosecutors that it is evidence beyond a reasonable doubt of Andre Jackson's guilt," Ogg told the media.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said that he and Acevedo met with Josue's family last week about the developments.

"The sixth grader was a smart, loving and respectful student. His family misses him dearly every day, the community misses him," Turner said of Josue.

"For the past three years, our department has worked tirelessly to bring justice to Josue, the Flores family, and our extended community," Acevedo said in a statement. "Today's true bill is a significant step in our journey to justice, and we look forward to supporting the Flores family as this case proceeds through the criminal courts."

The news of the arrest Tuesday was a long time coming for Flores' family and neighbors.

Some of them started crying as Jackson's arrest was announced.

"We were just waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting and this day has finally gotten here. I'm just so happy," said Stella Mireles-Walters.

Mireles-Walters is the organizer of "Safe Walk Home Northside," the group that was started after Josue was murdered walking home from school.

"I'm just so happy." Neighbors were relieved to hear that an arrest has again been made in Josue Flores' murder.

"I just ask you to put yourself in that mother's position, three years waiting for justice. No one is going to rush, and nobody is going to say anything to jeopardize that because the ultimate justice is when he's locked up in prison, and that's what I want us to focus on today," said HPD Executive Assistant Chief Troy Finner.