Tony Earls Jr. has been sentenced to 20 years in prison, the maximum penalty for his manslaughter conviction in the 2022 shooting death of 9-year-old Arlene Alvarez.
The high-profile Houston case centered on whether Earls acted recklessly when he opened fire on a pickup truck he mistakenly believed was connected to a robbery he had just experienced at an ATM. Alvarez was a passenger in the truck with her family when she was fatally shot.
During the trial, the defense argued that Earls made a “mistake of fact” and that his actions were a traumatic response rather than criminal recklessness. Prosecutors contended that the robbery suspect had already fled the scene and that firing into a moving vehicle in a public setting was an inherently dangerous and reckless act, regardless of Earls’s state of mind.
Taking the stand on Wednesday, Earls described the incident as “scary and chaotic” and claimed he could not clearly remember the events. He expressed remorse and asked the Alvarez family for forgiveness, stating, “It kills me, I can’t sleep at night.” The Alvarez family left the courtroom during his testimony.
The jury reviewed surveillance footage, photographs, and other evidence, along with testimony from investigators and expert witnesses, before finding Earls guilty.
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