Edwin Debrow

Case overview

Edwin Debrow Jr. was convicted in 1992, at age 12, of a fatal shooting during a botched robbery in which a cabbie was killed. He was resentenced to 40 years in prison in 2007 after his earlier 27-year sentence was overturned and he received a new sentencing hearing.

Background

Edwin Debrow Jr. was raised in San Antonio, Texas, and lived in San Antonio’s Northeast Side. His upbringing included periods in shelters and housing conditions described in the record as unstable. He attended Dorie Miller Elementary in the 4th and 5th grades. He later was placed into a Special Ed. Class and then suspended from school on several occasions. He was described as having aggressive behavior and being repeatedly treated as emotionally disturbed. He was kicked out of the San Antonio Independent School District and told he would have to attend an Achievement Center, including travel by yellow bus.

He grew up around crack cocaine use and described gang activity on the east side, including the Altadena Block Crips. He stated that he joined the Altadena Block Crips and began wearing blue bandanas and throwing gang signs. He described being involved in drug dealing and carrying a gun as a youth.

Edwin Debrow Jr. described drinking alcohol and using drugs on the night of the killing, including drinking Thunderbird with grape cool-aid, drinking night train and Mad Dog 20/20, and smoking joints.

The offence

Curtis Edwards was killed in San Antonio during a robbery in a taxicab. Debrow and Floyd Hardeman, who was 32 at the time, called for a ride, then demanded money. Edwin Debrow Jr. fired a shot into the back of Curtis Edwards’s head after Edwards failed to hand over money as was demanded. Moments later, the cab crashed and Hardeman fled while Debrow crawled more slowly behind him.

Edwin Debrow Jr. described that on the night of September 21, 1991, on the east side of San Antonio, he killed a cab driver named Curtis Edwards by shooting him in the back of the head with a 38 caliber handgun at close range. He described the cab crash, that his head was fractured, and that he ran before passing out under train tracks.

He also described a separate earlier incident involving a dope fiend in which he pulled out a gun and shot one time at the dope fiend’s back.

Investigation

The record described that police made the connection with Edwards’ murder after receiving a tip related to Edwin Debrow Jr.’s boasting to employees at the hospital where he was treated after sustaining serious head injuries in the wreck of Edwards’ taxi.

Police searched Debrow’s house and seized evidence including:

• a dirty sweatshirt that was later found stained with Edwards’ blood
• a single Troop Club sneaker, size 8 1/2, matching the one found in the back of the wrecked taxicab

Arrest

Police arrested Edwin Debrow Jr. at his home a day after he got out of the hospital. His mother and grandmother became hysterical as he was handcuffed and hauled away. When he stepped out of the squad car at the police station, he was surrounded by cameramen and reporters, and he hid his face.

Trial

Date and duration

The record described a three-day trial and that trial testimony spanned four days in February 1992.

People involved

• Curtis Edwards was the cab driver who was killed.
• Arthur Edwards and Jessie Mae Edwards identified the body of their son Curtis Edwards.
• Sandra Castro-Guerra served as jury foreman; she was a registered nurse and was described as 34.
• Curtis Edwards’s father testified about identifying his son.
• Leticia Cortez remembered Edwin Debrow Jr. swinging his legs during the trial.
• The assistant prosecutor was described as Gammon Guinn.
• The court proceedings occurred before 386th District Judge Laura Parker during the 2007 trial.
• The record also referenced final arguments before Judge Laura Parker and earlier proceedings involving 73rd District Court and Judge Andy Mireles in the 1992 trial narrative.

Evidence and witness testimony

The record described that some witnesses were dead or could not be found and their testimony was dryly read into the record. It also described horrific autopsy photos shown to the jury and that the jury heard testimony from Curtis Edwards’s father.

A security officer at Southeast Baptist Hospital, Robert Duncan, testified that Debrow said he had already killed one person and was not scared because the officer had a gun.

Linda Garcia, a nursing supervisor, testified that Debrow smiled as they chatted and asked about the murder.

A hospital chaplain named Charles Pollard testified that Debrow told him he had killed a man and that when you killed a man you have to go to jail. Pollard also testified that Debrow asked whether Pollard had been watching the news and whether he had heard about the taxi driver who got killed. Pollard testified that Debrow provided different versions of how an “uncle” was involved, including that the uncle ordered Debrow to shoot the man in one version and in another version that the uncle told him to aim at the cab driver’s head and the gun went off.

Verbatim quotations (trial and statements)

Prosecutor Jill Mata said: "I was very relieved that (the jury) could see the big picture and vote for community safety, and vote for affirmation of Curtis Edwards' life."

Karie Mitchell, Edwards’s cousin, said: "This is all we have left" of Edwards, she said, patting the shoulder of Curtis Edwards Jr., who was 6 when his father was killed.

Karie Mitchell also said: “This should have been a better chance for him.”

The record included a quote from a prosecutor’s statement made after the slaying: if Edwards’ killer "had gotten into his cab and said, 'Look, I need all your money,' Curtis would have given it to him and driven him somewhere."

A quote attributed to Edwards’s cousin also appeared in narrative form:

Verdict and murder determination

The record described that the jury deliberated 75 minutes before answering “true” to the question of murder in the guilt/innocence phase.

The record described closing arguments including: At 12 years old, he is cold," Guinn concluded. "...Maybe he had a problem. But should we cut off society's nose to spite our face and send him back out there? ...Do we let him do it again?"

In final arguments in 2007, defense lawyer Lisa Jarrett asked jurors to recall the small boy who cried for help and argued that he had no family guidance and was lured by Hardeman into the robbery.

Sentencing

1992 sentence

In 1992, after a trial in February 1992, the record described that Edwin Debrow Jr. was sentenced to 27 years.

Overturned sentence and new hearing

The record described that the 4th Court of Appeals overturned Debrow’s sentence earlier in 2007. The grounds included that Debrow was able to prove an appellate attorney failed to file an appeal on time and that records of what five witnesses said about him at his first sentencing couldn’t be found.

2007 resentencing outcome

A new sentencing trial began on October 22, 2007. A new jury was selected, and the jury sentenced Debrow to 40 years in prison. The record described that prosecutors announced plans to seek the maximum punishment of 40 years allowed under juvenile law in 1992 when Debrow was convicted as a juvenile. The record described that the jury’s decision increased Debrow’s prison time compared to if he had not sought a second chance.

With credit for time served of almost 16 years, the record described that Debrow would have to serve at least four more to meet the halfway mark of the new sentence, and possibly two of the four-year sentence.

The record also described a prison stabbing for which Debrow was sentenced to an additional four years, which affected when he might finally be released.

Appeals

The record described that the 4th Court of Appeals overturned Debrow’s sentence. It also described that his appeal of the murder conviction wasn’t filed properly in 1992 and was dismissed for “want of jurisdiction.”

Outcome

Edwin Debrow Jr. received a resentencing outcome in 2007, resulting in a prison sentence of 40 years after his earlier 27-year sentence was overturned and he was granted a new sentencing hearing.

Aftermath and later statements

The record described that:

• Debrow’s younger sister, Ebony Rosiles, said she blamed the jury for not setting her brother free and that “We got two victims in this case.”
• Debrow said that time had changed him and that he no longer was the remorseless young killer who sat before a jury in 1992.
• Edwards’s family was described as having forgiven Debrow.
• Debrow was described as being denied parole for the fourth time in the account attributed to Edwin Debrow Jr. in a letter.

Edwin Debrow Jr. letter (verbatim quotations)

Edwin Debrow Jr. wrote: "Hello. My name is Edwin Carl Debrow Jr.II. I was born on June 24, 1979, and raised in San Antonio, Texas. Today I am 29 years old."

He wrote: "I have been thinking about writing this letter for some time now."

He wrote: "A very good friend of mine has urged me to write something positive and see what kind of feedback I would get."

He wrote: "Before deciding to write this, I wanted to make sure that there were people out there in this world who wanted to hear my story."

He wrote: "I have no problem sharing my story with you."

He wrote: "I want you all to know that I am a responsible young man today and I am open to any criticism that I may receive."

He wrote: "I respect everyone’s opinion and I would love to hear it from those who are willing to respond."

He wrote: "When I was a 12-year-old kid, I was convicted for the offense of murder and sentenced to serve 27 years in prison."

He wrote: "After trying to appeal my conviction for several years, and having served nearly 16 years of my 27 year sentence, The Fourth Court od Appeals in San Antonio reversed my sentence and ordered me a new sentencing trial."

He wrote: "I was taken back to san Antonio and placed in the county jail to await my new hearing."

He wrote: "On October 22. 2007, my new hearing started and a new jury was selected."

He wrote: "After three days of testimony in which my attorney and I decided that we would not call any witnesses on my behalf, this new jury sentenced me to 40 years which was the maximum sentence allowed under juvenile law in Texas."

He wrote: "They increased my sentence and I returned to prison."

He wrote: "I was interviewed for parole a few months after I returned to prison and my parole was denied for the fourth time."

He wrote: "I received a 3-year set-off."

He wrote: "There were a lot of things that you all don’t know; why I made the decision to appeal my conviction, why I did not keep the 27 years, or why my sentence was increased."

He wrote: "I am human like everyone else and I understand what it means to have remorse."

He wrote: "I have reached out to my victim’s family; they know how sorry I am."

He wrote: "I have made my peace with God and I have asked for forgiveness."

He wrote: "I am currently enrolled in college classes trying to work my way towards an associate’s degree in applied science."

He wrote: "My motivation level is so high right now."

He wrote: "I want to help others in any way that I can and I feel that I can do that by communicating with others and sharing my story."

He wrote: "I have been writing a book about my life story and I have been trying to find a writer and publisher to help me publish my book."

He wrote: "If you would like to correspond with me, ask me questions, or request my assistance to help some teenage kid change his life, I am willing to offer my help in any way that I can."

He wrote: "I believe that you have made a difference."

He wrote: "I believe that is my true calling now."

Other verbatim quotations included in the record

Edwin Debrow Jr. wrote: "My mother is my life, she is my world, and my pride and my joy,"

Edwin Debrow Jr. wrote: "I really love her and I will never accept her departure from this world."

Debrow said: "I was now leading a dangerous life and my life took an unexpected turn."

He wrote: "At 12 years old, we were nothing but babies trying to be somebody."

He wrote: "We've never had a car, house, wife, kids, nothing in our name but a murder case."

He wrote: "To this day we deal with the fact that if we was to die in here we lived no life."

He wrote:

Other details

Co-defendant and related criminal matter

The record stated that Hardeman later pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery charges and was described as having received a 30-year sentence in connection with Edwards’s death.

Prison and institutional history described

The record included that:

• Debrow went to the Texas Youth Commission’s West Texas State School in March 1992.
• At the time of his letter, he was an administrative segregation prisoner at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Clements Unit in Amarillo, with meals shoved through a slot and life outside his cell limited to one hour a day.
• He was later in a high-security prison unit because he fashioned a shank from chain-link fence and used it to stab a rival gang member.
• He was prescribed trazodone and other psychiatric medications.

Date and identity details included

• Edwin Debrow Jr. was born on June 24, 1979, in San Antonio, Texas, per the letter included in the record.
• He described that he was 12 at the time of conviction and later described being 29 at the time he wrote the letter.

Named individuals and relationships

• Curtis Edwards was the victim.
• Curtis Edwards Jr. was described as the child of Curtis Edwards and as 6 at the time of his father’s killing.
• Karie Mitchell was described as Edwards’s cousin.
• Ebony Rosiles was described as Debrow’s younger sister.
• Floyd Hardeman was described as an older man and as distant relative of Edwin Debrow Jr.’s mother.
• Leonard Cucolo was described as TYC court liaison, and he testified in the record as explaining the system’s obligations.
• Leonard Cucolo also was described as not commenting specifically on Debrow’s case when discussing the system generally.
• Andy Logan and Lisa Jarrett were described as defense lawyers in the record narrative.
• Sandra Castro-Guerra was described as a jury foreman and a registered nurse.
• Leticia Cortez was described as remembering courtroom details.
• Arthur Edwards and Jessie Mae Edwards were described as Curtis Edwards’s parents who received a call from police and then raced to identify the body.

Charges and legal framing used in the record narrative

The record described the case as involving a fatal shooting during a botched robbery and included that Debrow was convicted of murder. It also referenced that Hardeman later pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery charges and that the jury was instructed regarding promotion, assistance, or encouragement of the crime.