HOUSTON – A witness has said placed Chad Holley, the man at the center of a Houston police brutality case six years ago, was the trigger-man in the murder of a construction worker who was killed in September, and that his accomplice was a man charged in the high profile murder of a 4-year-old girl during a robbery last November.
Holley, 22, became an international symbol of police brutality in April 2010 when surveillance video showed Houston police officers beating and kicking him during a burglary arrest. Seven officers were fired and three were convicted of official suppression.
VIDEO: Surveillance shows Houston officers beating Chad Holley during a burglary arrest
Police said Holley was in jail on an unrelated case when he was charged with capital murder in connection with the Sept. 21 shooting death of David Trejo-Gonzalez, 42, who was being robbed at Northline Terrace Apartments on East Crosstimbers Street.
Holley appeared in court Tuesday morning in the homicide case.
Prosecutors said a witness saw Holley run from the scene and throw a gun in a dumpster. They said the witness also said Holley told him that he had just shot someone because of drug money he owed and to be his alibi if police questioned him.
The same witness told police that Holley's accomplice in the killing was Philip Battles, 18, who was previously charged with capital murder in the killing of 4-year-old Ava Castillo and the wounding of her mother and sister Nov. 14.
Community activist Quanell X, who represented Holley during the brutality case, said after Tuesday’s hearing that Holley was wearing an ankle monitor and had a cell phone with him at the time of the crime.
“All they’ve got to do is check the ankle monitor, and the GPS location will determine whether he was there or not,” X said. “An eyewitness is one thing, but sometimes eyewitness testimony can be very unreliable.”
Quanell X said that Holley maintains his innocence and is scared.
VIDEO: Quanell X speaks after Holley hearing
According to court records, Holley was ordered to wear an electronic monitor in 2013 as a condition of probation for burglary conviction. According to the Harris County District Attorney's office, it's not clear if he was wearing the monitor Holley was ordered to wear was the type of monitor capable of pinpointing his location.
Holley's probation was revoked in May, 2015 due to repeated probation violations, but reinstated the following month by Judge David Mendoza. The judge revoked Holley's probation a second time on Oct. 20, following repeated probation violations and new charges of misdemeanor theft and trespassing. At the time he was not yet a suspect in Trejo-Gonzalez' murder.
"He was given multiple chances to get with the program," channel 2 legal analyst Brian Wice said. "What was Chad Holley doing out there on the streets?"