In re G.B.

524 S.W.3d 906, 2017 WL 2871619, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 6198
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJuly 6, 2017
DocketNO. 02-17-00055-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 524 S.W.3d 906 (In re G.B.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re G.B., 524 S.W.3d 906, 2017 WL 2871619, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 6198 (Tex. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION

BONNIE SUDDERTH, JUSTICE

I. Introduction

Appellant G.B. was fourteen years old when he allegedly got high and participated in an aggravated robbery that resulted in the shooting death of Eusebio Bernardo-Fernando, known as Chevo. During the early morning hours of March 6, 2016, nineteen-year-old Antonio Segura entered Chevo’s store and shot him in the back of the head. Segura then let G.B. and another nineteen-year-old, Fernando Marines, inside the store, and the trio then began to loot the place. Several months later, in August, the murder’s lead investigator located G.B. while he was in custody and added capital murder to an unrelated burglary charge already pending against him.

In one issue, G.B. appeals the juvenile court’s decision to transfer him to a district court to be tried as an adult in criminal proceedings for the capital murder. We affirm.

[908]*908II. Background

Unfortunately, the facts of this case are not uncommon. See, e.g., Moon v. State, 451 S.W.3d 28, 31-32 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014) (describing the disadvantaged upbringing and fractured family life of the sixteen-year-old juvenile appellant accused of murder); Matthews v. State, 513 S.W.3d 45, 51, 60 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2016, pet. ref'd) (describing sixteen-year-old juvenile appellant, who had a criminal history showing escalating behavior from physical assault, thefts, and credit card abuse before he was accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend); Matter of C.M.M., 503 S.W.3d 692, 696, 703-04 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2016, pet. ref'd) (describing fourteen-year-old juvenile appellant’s unstable childhood involving poverty, foster care, and drug use before he was accused of murdering his pregnant mother).

Fort Worth Police Detective Matt Anderson, a certified peace officer for over seventeen years and the lead investigator on the case, and Chris Shahan, a supervisor with the Tarrant County Juvenile Probation Department, were the State’s only witnesses at G.B.’s certification hearing. The rest of the State’s evidence came from the evaluations ordered by the juvenile court, which contained information from G.B.’s grandmother and G.B. along with that of the professionals who evaluated G.B.’s mental and physical health.

A. G.B.’s Background

G.B. and his family lived below the poverty level, his parents used drugs and spent time in and out of jail, and he and his brothers spent a year in foster care after Child Protective Services found “reason to believe” neglectful supervision by his parents. G.B.’s maternal grandparents had conservatorship of G.B., who was placed with them due to his parents’ drug and criminal history.1 G.B.’s grandmother indicated that G.B.’s mother was an enabler who allowed G.B. to do as he pleased with no discipline. She reported that this had led G.B. to want to act like he was an adult who did not need to follow rules, abide by curfew, or go to school. G.B.’s grandfather had medical issues that put a strain on the household, and G.B. took advantage of his elderly grandparents.2

By the time G.B. was twelve he had already received his first referral to the Juvenile Probation department—for engaging in two counts of organized crime, one count of theft of property over $500, and criminal mischief over $500. With regard to that referral, in November 2014, G.B. was placed on deferred prosecution probation, but within three months he violated his probation conditions by failing to attend a drug abuse program.

Six months later and during the twelve months that followed, G.B. was tardy to school, skipped school, was suspended from school, was sent to in-school detention, saw his grades drop, and had gone to school under the influence of drugs. Although he acknowledged that his grandparents were often upset with him over his behaviors, G.B. did not consider his behaviors at school to be a problem. G.B. had a history of coming and going from his grandmother’s home as he pleased, and by November 2015, he left his grandmother’s home to live with friends. Around that time, G.B. also received a referral for pos[909]*909session of marijuana, less than two ounces. He failed to appear for his scheduled adjudication hearing, but' on April 19, 2016— just over a month after Chevo’s murder— he received community-based detention for this offense.

B. The Murder and Initial Investigation

At 4:53 a.m. on March 6, 2016, a 911 caller reported that a possible burglary was in progress at a location he described as “Chevo’s Tire Shop.”3 The patrol officers who arrived on the scene were met by the 911 caller, Eduardo Rivas, who flagged them down and directed them to the business premises. When the officers entered the building, they found4 a large amount of blood, blood smears, bloody footprints, scattered property, and then, Anally, Che-vo’s body. Chevo’s face and torso were covered in blood, and although at first the responding officers were not certain if he had been shot, it was clear to them at that point that he was deceased. To the detectives who arrived approximately an hour and a half later, the blood pooling and smears indicated that either his body had been moved or that a second body had been present and moved. According to the officers, the place had been “ransacked”— at least one door had been kicked in, glass was broken, the store’s DVR security system had been removed, and bullet casings had been left on the floor.

Rivas told police that at about 4:00 a.m., he had seen a man, or men, placing boxes inside Chevo’s gold Honda parked in the parking lot. When the man saw Rivas, he approached him, pointed a handgun at him, and asked him a question about Che-vo. Rivas responded by “play[ing] dumb” and saying “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” According to Rivas, he “stayed low” and waited for them to leave, and then he went to a nearby store and called 911.

The police obtained the license plate number to the Honda from Chevo’s coworkers, and the vehicle was later found abandoned off Jacksboro Highway. In the meantime, due to the large amount of evidence at the crime scene, the police continued to investigate and collect evidence from the premises for three days.

C. After the Murder

In April 2016, GJB.’s mother was released from an eleven-month court-ordered residential treatment program, and G.B. received a. referral from the Fort Worth Police Department for possession of marijuana of less than two ounces in a drug free zone—possession of drugs at school— for which he received a supervisory caution. G.B.’s latent fingerprints .were also found at the scene of an April 28, 2016 burglary.5

In the two months that followed, events escalated for G.B. In May, he was expelled from school after being found with a knife and syrup6 in his possession at school. He had been staying in a hotel with a young girl who had been reported as a runaway.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
524 S.W.3d 906, 2017 WL 2871619, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 6198, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-gb-texapp-2017.