The long-awaited trial of Tony Earls, the man who stands accused in the 2022 shooting death of 9-year-old Arlene Alvarez, is occurring in Houston.
Arlene was riding in her family’s car on Valentine’s Day, heading out to get pizza, when a bullet struck her in the head.
Prosecutors say the shot came from Earls’ gun, fired moments after he and his wife were allegedly robbed at gunpoint while using an ATM in the area.
In Wednesday’s opening statements, prosecutors argued that Earls acted recklessly when he shot his gun toward the Alvarez family’s passing truck, comparing his actions to “John Wick-style” erratic gunfire, per ABC 13.
Prosecutors then played the tragic 911 call made by Arlene’s mother as she tried to save her daughter’s life.
Prosecutor John Jordan told the jury that the shooting was intentional as much as it was reckless, and not an accidental stray bullet.
“This is a case in which the defendant, as soon as he loses sight of the robber running away, he immediately directs his attention to the next vehicle coming down the street, which is the Alvarez’s and he immediately, in John Wick fashion, starts firing at it —one, two, three, four, five, six shots,” Jordan described to the courtroom.
The young girl’s father, Armando Alvarez, recalled the devastating final moments on the stand on Thursday.“I thought she had ducked down, but she didn’t. She had a bullet in her head. I carried her like a baby,” he told jurors.
Earls, now 35, has admitted to firing his weapon but still argues that he believed the robbery suspect was shooting at him. His defense team insists that he acted in self-defense and reported the incident immediately to the police.
“The evidence is going to show he is the scapegoat. This is a tragedy … He didn’t plan to shoot someone,” Defense Attorney Anothony Osso told jurors this week.
On Thursday, the courtroom also listened to Earls’ own 911 call, in which he claimed the robbery suspect had shot at him first. But prosecutors provided surveillance evidence they say shows that Earls was never shot at whatsoever.
At first, a Harris County grand jury declined to indict Earls. However, after new evidence was presented in the case, he was later charged with murder, per ABC 13. That charge was dismissed earlier this summer, replaced with the current manslaughter charge, which carries a potential penalty of 2 to 20 years in prison.
The Alvarez family has fought relentlessly for justice since Arlene’s death. Her aunt once described her as “forever frozen in time as a fourth grader.” The family has since welcomed a new daughter, Arlette, named in her memory.
Meanwhile, the robbery suspects who set the tragic chain of events off have never been caught.
Testimony in the case will continue through the week, with Arlene’s mother scheduled to take the stand in the coming days. Friday will mark the third day of the emotional trial in Harris County.