A Fort Worth resident was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday following a guilty plea on firearm charges connected to a shooting incident involving a council member’s mother.
Jonathon R. Howard, aged 35, received a decade-long federal prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm this May, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
The charges stem from an incident earlier this year during which Graciela Flores, the mother of Fort Worth City Council Member Carlos Flores, was shot in the chest.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, Fort Worth police were dispatched to the 82-year-old’s home near Main Street and North Westside Drive on February 23 shortly after 9 p.m. She had been hit by a stray bullet that had gone through her door.
Flores was hospitalized but pulled through.
An investigation into the shooting led police to Howard, whose backyard was across the alley from Flores’ home. A search of the suspect’s property allegedly yielded cartridge casings and three firearms.
As a convicted felon, Howard was in illegal possession of three 9mm pistols from gun makers Jimenez Arms, Glock, and Taurus, according to the news release. His prior convictions included charges of forgery as well as manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance.
Howard’s federal charges were formally filed in March, and he entered a guilty plea in May. The state also filed charges of aggravated assault in connection with the shooting incident that are still pending.
Despite this incident, downtown Fort Worth, where a dedicated police unit works alongside private security guards, routinely sees significantly less crime than Downtown Dallas.
Buttressed by an ongoing staffing issue within its police department, violent crime in Dallas has continued to plague residents. A total of 1,609 weapon law offenses were logged in the City of Dallas crime overview dashboard as of August 29.
A City report advises that a city the size of Dallas should have about three officers for every 1,000 residents, putting an ideal staffing level at roughly 4,000 officers. The Dallas Police Department presently maintains a force of around 3,100 officers.
