Dad won't face charges in alleged attacker's death
doofiegirl POTL~PWCM~JLA
2012/06/20 00:11:13
SHINER, Texas (AP) - A young Texas father who beat to death with his fists a man molesting his 5-year-old daughter will not be charged, authorities said Tuesday as they released a dramatic 911 tape of the dad frantically pleading for help before the hired ranch helper died.
A Lavaca County grand jury Tuesday declined to indict the 23-year-old father in the death of Jesus Mora Flores, 47. Prosecutors said the grand jury reached same conclusion as police after reviewing the evidence: The father was authorized to use deadly force to protect his daughter.
Flores was killed June 9 on a family ranch so remote that the father is heard profanely screaming at a dispatcher who couldn't locate the property.
"Come on! This guy is going to die on me!" the father yells. "I don't know what to do!"
The Associated Press is not identifying the father in order to protect the daughter's identity. The AP does not identify victims of sexual assault.
The tense, nearly five-minute 911 call begins with the father saying that he "beat up" a man found raping his daughter. The father grows increasingly frazzled, cursing and crying into the phone so loudly at times that the call often becomes inaudible.
At one point tells the dispatcher he's going to put the man in his truck and drive him to a hospital before sheriff's deputies finally arrive.
"He's going to die!" the father screams. "He's going to (expletive) die!" Shiner, a town of about 2,000 people about 80 miles west of San Antonio, revolves around the Spoetzl Brewery that makes Shiner, one of the nation's best-selling independent beers. Even gas stations here sell it on tap.
Flores' death is only the sixth homicide the sheriff's department has investigated in the last eight years, and half of those killings involved one triple-murder. Shiner residents boast their squeaky-clean image on a highway welcome sign: "The Cleanest Little City in Texas."
At Werner's Restaurant, customer Gail Allen said she didn't want to speak for all of Shiner, though her comments might as well have.
"The father has gone through enough," said Allen, 59, who has nine grandchildren. "The little girl is going to be traumatized for life, and the father, too, for what happened. He was protecting his family. Any parent would do that."
A Lavaca County grand jury Tuesday declined to indict the 23-year-old father in the death of Jesus Mora Flores, 47. Prosecutors said the grand jury reached same conclusion as police after reviewing the evidence: The father was authorized to use deadly force to protect his daughter.
Flores was killed June 9 on a family ranch so remote that the father is heard profanely screaming at a dispatcher who couldn't locate the property.
"Come on! This guy is going to die on me!" the father yells. "I don't know what to do!"
The Associated Press is not identifying the father in order to protect the daughter's identity. The AP does not identify victims of sexual assault.
The tense, nearly five-minute 911 call begins with the father saying that he "beat up" a man found raping his daughter. The father grows increasingly frazzled, cursing and crying into the phone so loudly at times that the call often becomes inaudible.
At one point tells the dispatcher he's going to put the man in his truck and drive him to a hospital before sheriff's deputies finally arrive.
"He's going to die!" the father screams. "He's going to (expletive) die!" Shiner, a town of about 2,000 people about 80 miles west of San Antonio, revolves around the Spoetzl Brewery that makes Shiner, one of the nation's best-selling independent beers. Even gas stations here sell it on tap.
Flores' death is only the sixth homicide the sheriff's department has investigated in the last eight years, and half of those killings involved one triple-murder. Shiner residents boast their squeaky-clean image on a highway welcome sign: "The Cleanest Little City in Texas."
At Werner's Restaurant, customer Gail Allen said she didn't want to speak for all of Shiner, though her comments might as well have.
"The father has gone through enough," said Allen, 59, who has nine grandchildren. "The little girl is going to be traumatized for life, and the father, too, for what happened. He was protecting his family. Any parent would do that."
Read More: http://www.wxow.com/story/18828411/dad-wont-face-c...
Top Opinion
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Temlakos~POTL~PWCM~JLA~☆ 2012/06/20 00:15:08
+14Clearly he felt bad about that death. Some men don't know their own strength. And in his case, with his daughter in the mix, he doubled his strength without knowing it.
If the girl had gone into the chicken coop to feed the chickens, she could have fallen. If the man had happened by, he might have picked her up while she was screaming... and if the dad came by at that moment, he might have misunderstood the situation.
Basically, there is no one available to tell the deceased man's side of the story.
Further, if the man didn't do anything, the dad could still have beat him to death for any number of reasons (including boredom) then used this story as a cover. Again, the dead man can't speak up.
Assuming the Grand Jury had physical evidence to really support the story, I can't fault the father.
"I think you had best reevaluate your thoughts on this subject!" Is this a threat or a command? Either way, it isn't really appropriate.
Who said the guy's pants were down around his ankles? If there is corroborating evidence, then the dad's story is authenticated.
And as for the sheriff -- *some* sheriffs are smart, some are dumb, some are not particularly interested in anything except getting re-elected or re-appointed.
I heard from another source that there *was* actual physical evidence of a rape -- and they did a DNA test on it. Given that sort of evidence, I have absolutely no problem with the story. But when I made my post, I had heard of NO physical evidence, in all the sources I had seen. That is why I was skeptical -- not accusatory, just skeptical.
And I never accused the man of lying. If you had told me you read a story in which the Sheriff had physical evidence that the man had his pants down prior to the beating I would certainly have acknowledged that.
Perhaps your original post was not hostile and just sounded that way. Maybe you meant to tell me that you actually knew of the evidence, rather than just suggesting that the Sheriff was a pretty smart man.
Personally I see nothing immoral, wrong, or otherwise improper with my speculation (and cynicism). I do not know any of the people involved, and my heart does go out to them. But plenty of people do bad things (like kill strangers) and try to shift the blame. I don't see why it upset you that I wondered aloud whether the man's story was true or not.
There are far too many stressful things in life for us to add another based simply on word styles.
We both agree that the man should not have been charged, and we both hope his family can get some semblence of normalcy and health back again.
...and I can say I'm truly glad I was not involved close enough to the case to really know what happened. In this situation, ignorance is closer to bliss for sure!
Because I don't automatically assume the dad is the one who is right, without any facts to support that assumption?
Or because I understand that I don't really *need* to know what went on and prefer not to know more?
gimme a break
Texas laws are a lot different than the rest. And remember You're talking about the same Texas who lost Civil War, the same Texas who lost all good sense, and the same Texas Where wrongful convictions are the norm (Texas Among Top 3 States in Total Exonerations).
"...and everyone but you is glad about that!"
This dumb poll is not a representation of what "everyone" feels. Most people I know and know of, if you ask them do you like SH, they'd say what the the hell is SH? This site is flooded with nothing but conservatards. America is not a conservative nation; it's a liberal one, like it or not.
And your state is not exactly a role model for America: Texas recently beat Mississippi in a race to dead last in high school graduations. At the same time, Texas may 'boast' that it is 'number one' in executions, number 'one' in the number of children living in poverty, number one the number of murders per one thousand persons, number one in various forms of industrial pollution! Number one in the race to bottom.