Gov. Greg Abbott announces crackdown on Venezuelan gang
Abbott signed a proclamation declaring Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organization and directed Texas DPS to create strike teams targeting the gang. Full Story
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![Gov. Greg Abbott arrives at a press conference with several other states leadership at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass on Feb. 04, 2024.]()
Credit: Kaylee Greenlee Beal for The Texas Tribune -
Texas’ prison guard shortfall makes it harder for inmates to get reprieve from extreme indoor heat, critics say
About 25% of Texas’ correctional officer positions are unfilled. Inmates say the shortages make it harder for them to get respite during hot summer months. Full Story
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![Mountain View prison in Gatesville on September 19, 2019.]()
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Dallas juvenile detention center isolated kids and falsified documents, state investigation says
A Texas Juvenile Justice Department report says Dallas County officers kept kids in their sleeping quarters for days at a time and faked school attendance logs. Full Story
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![Detainees are moved from location to location within the Travis County Juvenile Detention Center in Austin, Texas, Monday, June 24, 2013. (FILE)]()
Credit: Jennifer Whitney for The Texas Tribune -
Defense lawyers allege prosecutorial misconduct in El Paso Walmart shooting case
Attorneys for the man facing trial in the killings of 23 people accused prosecutors of improper witness contact and violating confidential attorney-client communication. Full Story
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![A group of people carry crosses bearing the names of the victims lost in the Walmart shooting during a memorial service on the third anniversary of the Walmart mass shooting that left 23 dead, at Ponder Park in El Paso on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022.]()
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Former schools police chief says he was not at fault in Uvalde shooting, asks judge to toss charges
Pete Arredondo’s lawyers tell the court that the shooter, not the police, was to blame for the school violence. Full Story
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![Pete Arredondo, chief of the Uvalde school district police, on a dirt road on the outskirts of Uvalde on June 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy for The Texas Tribune -
Texas inmate is exonerated after spending nearly 34 years in prison for wrongful conviction
A Dallas County judge granted a motion to dismiss charges against Benjamin Spencer, 59, who was initially convicted in 1987 of murder. Full Story
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Odessa is still healing five years after a mass shooting
“It’s like time passes, but it also freezes,” said Rosie Granados, whose twin sister was killed during the shooting. Full Story
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![Bright Star Memorial Plaza in Odessa, Texas construction for the victims of the Odessa mass shooting in 2019 on 8/21/24.]()
Credit: Callie Cummings for The Texas Tribune -
Texas DPS Director Steve McCraw retiring after 15 years as state’s top law enforcement officer
The longtime head of the Department of Public Safety will step down at the end of the year. Full Story
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![Steven C. McCraw, the Director and Colonel of the Texas Department of Public Safety, speaks at a border security bill signing session at the state Capitol in Austin on June 8, 2023.]()
Credit: Joe Timmerman/The Texas Tribune -
U.S. indicts Guatemalan man over 2022 deaths of 53 migrants in San Antonio trailer
The indictment of the alleged leader of the human smuggling organization comes a day after Guatemalan authorities arrested him and six others in connection with the tragedy. Full Story
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![A tractor-trailer found near Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio contained the bodies of 46 dead people, along with 16 others who have been taken to hospitals on June 27, 2022, local officials in San Antonio said.]()
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Jury finds parents of student accused in Santa Fe school shooting not negligent
Jurors instead put the responsibility with the shooter and a firearms ammunition retailer in a trial over the 2018 shooting. Full Story
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![Mourners pay their respects at a makeshift memorial in front of Santa Fe High School on May 29, 2018, eleven days after 10 people were killed in a mass shooting.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
Uvalde police failed to turn over some video footage from Robb Elementary shooting, department says
Chief Homer Delgado said the department has turned over the footage to the district attorney’s office and ordered an investigation into how the error occurred. Full Story
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![Robb Elementary in Uvalde, on July 11, 2022.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
When Texas jail standards push inmates to lockups in other states, oversight doesn’t follow
Jaleen Anderson’s mom is on a quest for details about her son’s death in a Louisiana prison that houses hundreds of Harris County inmates awaiting trial. Full Story
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![Sarah Knight cries at the gravesite of her son at the Paradise Funeral Home and Cemetery North on May 13, 2024, in Houston, Texas. Her son, Jaleen Anderson, died while being held in LaSalle Correctional Facility in Louisiana.]()
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Texas’ overcrowded and understaffed jails send people awaiting trial to other counties and states
Limits on who can be released without paying bail and difficulties hiring guards worsen the situation. Full Story
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![Sorcha Costigan holds up Jess Hampton’s army jacket in the bedroom of her home on Aug. 10, 2024 in Rosevine. “The goal is to get him out of jail, so he and I can both work on fighting this from the outside and get his name cleared,” Costigan said.]()
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Crews begin demolishing Sutherland Springs church where gunman killed more than two dozen in 2017
Some families wanted to preserve the sanctuary, which became the scene of the deadliest church shooting in American history. Full Story
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![Workers begin demolition of the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs on Monday, Aug. 12, 2024, where a gunman killed more than two dozen worshipers in 2017.]()
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After Uvalde city officials end battle over shooting records, victims’ families say other agencies need to follow suit
The city’s release ends a legal battle with news outlets, but other government agencies are withholding materials. Full Story
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![Authorities gather outside of Robb Elementary School in Uvalde after a gunman entered and killed 19 students and two teachers on May 24, 2022.]()
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Texas executes Arthur Lee Burton for 1997 killing of Houston jogger
Burton was sentenced to death for killing Nancy Adleman, a mother of three, while she was jogging on a summer evening in Houston. Full Story
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![Interior of Death Chamber in Texas.]()
Credit: Jenevieve Robbins/Texas Department of Criminal Justice -
DPS reinstates Texas Ranger fired for Uvalde shooting response
Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw said he made the decision after the Uvalde district attorney found no criminal wrongdoing and asked that Ranger Chris Kindell be allowed to return to his job. Full Story
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![Texas Ranger Christopher Ryan Kindell outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde on May 24, 2022, when 21 people — 19 children and two adults — were killed by a gunman. Kindell was fired by DPS Thursday and said he plans to appeal.]()
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Five years after mass shooting, El Paso dedicates a new memorial to the victims
Saturday marks five years since a gunman killed 23 people and injured 22 others in a racially-motivated massacre. Full Story
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![Tino Ortega, an artist who had previously painted a series of murals throughout El Paso to honor victims of the Walmart shooting, stands at the site of the new memorial that he designed for the City of El Paso, July 24, 2024. Ortega used granite pillars in the shape of a crown to evoke the strength and power of the community. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)]()
Credit: Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters -
Justice Department finds Texas juvenile detention centers violated youth offenders’ rights
The DOJ found that officers overused pepper spray, kept youths in prolonged isolation and failed to protect them from sexual abuse. Full Story
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![Giddings State School, a juvenile correctional facility managed by the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in Giddings.]()
Credit: Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune -
Former Texas prisoners describe suffocating heat during trial over state’s un-air conditioned lockups
A lawsuit seeks to force Texas to fully air condition its prison system. Inmate advocacy groups say temperatures can push above 120 degrees in some units. Full Story
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![Prison staff and inmates move through the Darrington Unit's main hallway on Wednesday, July 12, 2017.]()
Credit: Jolie McCullough/The Texas Tribune