in the Matter of J.R.

Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided April 12, 2018·No. 02-17-00468-CV·Published

Opinion

COURT OF APPEALS

SECOND DISTRICT OF TEXAS

FORT WORTH

NO. 02-17-00468-CV

IN THE MATTER OF J.R.

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FROM THE 323RD DISTRICT COURT OF TARRANT COUNTY TRIAL COURT NO. 323-106076-17

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MEMORANDUM OPINION1

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I. INTRODUCTION

This is an interlocutory appeal from a juvenile court’s order waiving jurisdiction and transferring Appellant J.R. to criminal district court. See Tex. Fam. Code Ann. § 56.01(c)(1)(A), (h) (West Supp. 2017) (providing for appeal from an order entered under section 54.02 and stating that appeal of an order waiving jurisdiction under section 54.02 “has precedence over all other cases”).

1 See Tex. R. App. P. 47.4.

In a single issue, Appellant argues that the juvenile court abused its discretion by waiving jurisdiction because the evidence demonstrated that the Texas Juvenile Justice Department (TJJD) would provide sufficient safeguards for the public and “a very high probability of rehabilitation for [him].” Because the evidence demonstrates that, due to Appellant’s age, he would not be able to complete the minimum confinement in TJJD necessary for rehabilitation and thus that Appellant’s placement in TJJD would not adequately protect the public, we hold that the juvenile court did not abuse its discretion by waiving jurisdiction and will therefore affirm.

II. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Overview

Fourteen-year-old Kara2 went missing from Bedford on the evening of June 19, 2017, and her body was found in an Arlington landfill two days later. After several months of investigation, police connected sixteen-year-old Appellant with Kara’s death and charged him with committing multiple felony offenses, including murder, serious bodily injury, tampering with evidence of a human corpse, and tampering with physical evidence.

Due to the seriousness of the offenses, Appellant’s background, and the welfare of the community, the State filed a petition requesting the juvenile court

2 We use pseudonyms throughout the opinion to refer to the victim, who was a minor, and to refer to each of the witnesses. See Tex. R. App. P. 9.8(c)(2).

to waive its exclusive jurisdiction and to transfer Appellant to criminal district court. The State also requested the juvenile court to order “a complete diagnostic study, social evaluation, and full investigation of the child, his circumstances, and the circumstances of the alleged offenses.” The juvenile court granted the State’s request for a complete diagnostic study, and after preparation of the study, a hearing was held on the State’s petition.

B. Testimony at the Certification Hearing 1. The Investigation

Detective Anthony Shelley with the Bedford Police Department testified that he served as the lead detective in the investigation of Kara’s death. On June 19, 2017, at approximately 8:15 p.m., officers responded to a call from Kara’s mother, who reported that Kara was missing and was presumed to have run away. Kara’s mother told officers that Kara had left their apartment at 6:20 p.m. to walk the dog and had not returned. Kara’s mother found the dog tied to a fence at the apartment complex’s dog park.

Officers learned that Kara’s Instagram account contained messages about drugs from a boy named Kevin and questioned him that evening. Kevin told officers that he had met with Kara, that she had handed him the dog’s leash, and that she had told him she would return. Kevin waited a short time for Kara to return, and when she did not reappear, he tied the dog’s leash to the fence and went home.

The following day, officers interviewed Kevin a second time. Kevin said that he and Kara were supposed to meet with a male, who was later identified as Appellant, to conduct a drug transaction. Kevin told officers that he possibly knew where the marijuana exchange was supposed to have taken place, walked the officers to the area, and pointed to an apartment, which was located a few buildings over from the apartment where Kara lived. Kevin said that he and Kara were supposed to make $300 selling dabs3 to Appellant.

Detective Shelley received information that Appellant was staying with his uncle Trent4 in Fort Worth and went there to speak to Appellant. Detective Shelley explained that they were looking for Kara and asked Appellant if she was inside Trent’s residence; Appellant said she was not. Appellant said that on June 19, he and Kara had planned to meet at the dog park at the apartment complex where she lived. Appellant said that he saw Kara’s dog but that she was not there, so he went back to his girlfriend Jane’s apartment, which was located at the same apartment complex. Appellant said that Trent picked him up at 6:00

3 Detective Shelley explained that dabs is a liquid form of marijuana in an oil base that is made by melting marijuana into a concentrated form to obtain the THC from it.

4 It was later revealed that the man Appellant referred to as his uncle was a family friend who was not related to Appellant.

p.m. that evening.5 Detective Shelley asked Appellant to elaborate, but Appellant said he did not have additional information and concluded the interview.

The following day, on June 21, 2017, the Arlington Police Department alerted the Bedford Police Department that they had located a body in the landfill. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ultimately identified the body as Kara’s and found that the manner of her death was homicidal violence. Detective Shelley testified that they investigated how Kara’s body had arrived at the landfill and discovered from the sanitation department’s route sheet that the location in the landfill where Kara’s body was found corresponded to the route that picked up trash from the apartment complex where Kara had lived.

On June 23, 2017, police interviewed Kevin a third time, and he provided more details than in his prior interviews. Kevin said that on June 19, he woke up around noon or 1:00 p.m. and received an Instagram message from Kara inviting him to her apartment. Kevin went to Kara’s apartment, and they watched a YouTube video on how to make dabs. Kara received an Instagram message from Appellant telling her to come alone and to meet him at a bench near the swimming pool at the apartment complex.

Kevin followed Kara to her meeting with Appellant. When Kevin peeked around the corner of a building, he saw Kara and Appellant standing together.

Trent told police that he had picked up Appellant from Jane’s apartment 5

on June 19 between 7:24 p.m. and 7:28 p.m.

Moments later, Kara ran away. Kevin caught up with Kara, walked her home, and then returned to his apartment.

Approximately an hour later, Kara showed up at Kevin’s apartment with her dog. They walked toward the same place where Kara had met Appellant earlier that afternoon, and Kevin stayed in the dog park area. Once Kara walked between the buildings, he lost sight of her. When Kara did not return after thirty minutes had elapsed, Kevin tied her dog’s leash to the fence at the dog park and went home. After Kevin sent Kara a message and received no response, he returned to the dog park and ran into Kara’s mother. Kara’s mother asked Kevin where Kara was, and he said that he did not know. He explained that he had lost sight of her when she had walked between the buildings.

Also on June 23, 2019, Officers met with Jane’s mother, who told police that she had been out of state during the day on June 19 and had not returned to her apartment until 11:00 p.m. that night,6 that her husband had left the apartment around 2:00 p.m. that day and had returned at 11:00 p.m., and that they had allowed Appellant to stay in their apartment while they were gone. She said that she had spoken to Appellant around 7:00 p.m. on June 19 and that he had told her that he was leaving with Trent. During the interview, Detective Shelley noticed a trash dumpster next to Jane’s apartment.

6 Jane’s mom had taken Jane out of state and had left her there for a vacation.

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