A Cameron County judge dismissed misdemeanor and felony charges, including charges of aggravated assault and terroristic threat, against an eleven-year-old Brownsville child, Timothy Murray, for lack of evidence.
Cameron County 484th District Court Judge Adela Kowalski-Garza, who presides over the Cameron County Juvenile Justice court, gave the ruling on Feb. 14 as supporters protested outside demanding Murray’s charges be dropped.
Kowalski-Garza said there was no probable cause or intent displayed by Murray to bring the charges to trial. The Cameron County District Attorney’s office can still pursue the charges, however, and have two years to build a case against Murray should they choose to, according to Murray’s attorney, Sara Stapleton-Barrera.
“There’s no real thanks given to [District Attorney] Luis Saenz and no thanks at all given to [Assistant District Attorney] Rene Garza,” Stapleton-Barrera said of the people who brought the charges against Murray. “The one that saw through all of the baloney that’s in this paperwork was the judge.”
Kowalski-Garza’s ruling was a glimmer of hope for family and supporters who have seen multiple institutions fail Murray.
As documented by the Texas Observer, Murray was arrested by police last year after a rumor spread that he had threatened to kill Myrta Garza, the principal of Palm Grove Elementary, where he attended school.
On Sept. 8 last year, Garza called the police on Murray. The fifth grader was arrested at the school then placed in solitary confinement for three days. Kowalski-Garza denied Cameron County’s request to detain Murray for another two weeks based on a Class C felony charge. The judge instead sent him home on conditional release and ordered a safety evaluation. The rumors were baseless, according to organizers, Murray’s mother Nadia Rincon, and his attorney.
Murray’s issues with police didn’t stop there: months after Murray was arrested and transferred to another school, he was charged with aggravated assault after a student said Murray tried to cut his finger with scissors. The student later retracted their statement, but the charge remained.
The principal of Murray’s new school, according to the Texas Observer’s reporting, used to work under Garza. Murray is now homeschooled.
Murray’s issues with the school district started with him seeking counseling after his father died of cancer in 2022. Murray’s counselor who guided him through his father’s death left the school before Murray started 5th grade.
Murray asked Garza about getting a new counselor, but the principal instead retaliated against the student, according to Divest/Invest RGV Co-Founder Yasmine Gonzalez, who called the ruling great news but only a first step.
“We are going to be on standby anticipating [District Attorney] Saenz’s decision as to whether or not he will be bringing these charges back into play in the courtroom. And if he does, we'll be ready.”
Gonzalez says Murray’s arrest is a facet of a long-running issue in the Rio Grande Valley’s education system: the school-to-prison pipeline.
“Children should be met with safety, with mental health help with basic needs, not being arrested,” Gonzalez said. “There are policies in place that require the school to do a mediation and an intervention before police escalation. But Timothy was neglected and not given the opportunity to go through that process.”
Gonzalez says the arrest left Murray with anxiety and stomach issues and raises questions on whether Brownsville ISD is punishing students more than meeting their needs.
Brownsville ISD police have arrested over 3,000 students in the last two and a half years, 76 of whom were children between 10 and 11 years old, according to school district data obtained by the Texas Observer.
TPR has contacted the Cameron County DA’s office asking whether they will continue to pursue charges against Murray.
