HOUSTON – A $100,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who murdered HPD Officer Charles Clark on April 3, 2003. The case is now considered a cold case, after the conviction for the man condemned in the deadly shooting was recently overturned.
Alfred Dewayne Brown was convicted of capital murder in the death of Clark, but was released after spending more than a decade on death row.
Prosecutors said Brown and two other men were robbing a check-cashing store when they shot and killed the store clerk, Alfredia Jones, and Officer Clark, who responded to the scene.
Brown and his attorneys claimed all along they had the wrong man.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Brown's conviction in November. Following a 6-month investigation, Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson announced there wasn't enough evidence to retry Brown, and would not pursue the charge against him. Brown walked out a free man on June 8.
Houston police said they will not give up looking for Clark's killer.
"The men and women of HPD are committed to continuing this investigation until the killer of Charlie Clark is behind bars and on death row. We regret that his wife has to relive the tragedy", said Ray Hunt of the HPOU.
Clark's wife made a public plea for help.
"I want to thank the the Union, the Homicide Division and the DA's office that has worked on my husband's case from day one, and they continue to do so. A lot of hard work has gone into this case," Hilde Martinez Clark said. "My husband Charles Clark deserves justice. Last Monday was a very difficult and sad day for the Clark family and for everyone that has worked on this case. I understand Devon Anderson needs new information to move forward with another trial. That is why we are here today asking the public for any new information."
Brown claimed that he was innocent and that he had an alibi that could prove it. He said he was at his girlfriend's house and made a call from a landline phone. But phone records were never produced during the trial or shared with the defense.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office found the phone records in 2013 during a post-conviction review of the case. They were in the garage of a homicide detective.
The office then turned over the evidence to Brown's defense attorneys, who filed a new appeal on his behalf.
"There's a rule that requires prosecutors to show the defense any evidence that would tend to show innocence, and that was not done in this case," said Sandy Thompson, a professor at the University of Houston's Law Center.
After Brown was released, he said he was planning to live with his mother in Louisiana. Beyond that he said he hadn't made any plans for his life, other than to spend time with his teenage daughter.
In Thursday's press conference, investigators said they will continue to find the person who gunned down one of their own.
"We're not here to talk about prior convictions, prior court hearings, prior evidence or anything like that. This is simply a call for more information and community support. We're not here to rehash the whole case," said Cpt. Dwayne Ready, HPD Homicide. "This investigation is going to remain open in the Homicide Division until it's solved.
There is no statute of limitation for capital murder.
"They could come back or think they have some evidence, or find somebody that they think is a good witness," Brown's attorney Katherine Scardino said. "They could come back and charge him again. So all is not over. It won't be over until the day he dies."