HOUSTON – The man accused in the shooting death of 9-year-old Arlene Alvarez in 2022 has been arrested.
Tony Earls Jr. had originally been cleared after being no-billed by a grand jury in July 2022. A special prosecutor was appointed to the case, and it was brought before another grand jury who indicted him for murder on April 23.
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Earls was arrested Wednesday, according to court records. He is scheduled to appear in court Friday. He is charged with murder as well as an unrelated aggravated assault charge. His combined bond is $140,000.
According to police, Alvarez was struck by a bullet while riding in the back of her family’s truck. Alvarez was rushed to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she later died.
Earls was at the Chase Bank at the intersection of Winkler and Woodridge when he was robbed at gunpoint at 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 14, 2022. After the robbery, Earls fired his handgun at the robber, who was running away from him.
At the same time, the Alvarez family were driving past the bank in their pickup when Earls fired several shots into the truck, killing the child.
Police said that Earls did not initially know he had struck the child until he went home and called to report the robbery. Earls was initially charged with aggravated assault-serious bodily injury.
But when a Harris County grand jury failed to indict him in July 2022, he was released. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg assigned Special Prosecutor Warren Diepraam to reexamine the case.
Diepraam called in an FBI firearms expert to examine the physical evidence that had been collected.
“The expert’s opinion is that Mr. Earls saw the robber run past the vehicle with Arlene Alvarez inside — the vehicle did not do anything to give Mr. Earls a justification to shoot into the passing vehicle,” Diepraam said. “Mr. Earls had a clear line of sight, and obviously Mr. Alvarez did not stop and say to the robber, ‘Get in’ or anything like that.”
If convicted of murder, Earls faces the full range of punishment, from five years in prison to life.