Person of interest in Josue Flores murder calls out police in YouTube video
HOUSTON - The family spokesman of murdered 11-year-old Josue Flores is lashing back at a YouTube video made by a person of interest in his murder.
Andre Jackson was arrested and charged in connection to Josue‘s murder, but the charges were later dropped.
Police say he’s still a person of interest, and now he’s speaking out against police, and Josue’s family spokesman is responding.
"Quite frankly, I'm just tired of hearing my name associated with this case," said Jackson on YouTube Saturday.
He spoke out against the Houston Police Department after Chief Art Acevedo reiterated on the third anniversary of Josue Flores’ murder that Jackson could still be the killer.
"I do not appreciate a group of Hispanics, Latinos, or Mexicans trying to pin a murder on me," said Jackson. "I’m referencing the police that spoke at the press conference from Cold Case and Chief Acevedo. It’s disrespectful at this point."
Josue’s family spokesman was swift to respond.
"It’s really a racial move, because you know we’re not gonna bow down to that," said Jose Vega, president of Proud to be Tejano. "We’re not gonna reflect on that, because it’s not gonna be a brown against black thing."
Jackson was arrested in 2016. At that time police believed he was the man who stabbed Josue a reporter 20 times. They also believed he was the man captured on surveillance video shortly after Josue’s death. But DNA results were inconclusive, so police let him go in 2017 while still calling him a person of interest.
"You can stop considering me a suspect," Jackson continued in his 10-minute YouTube video. "You can stop mentioning my name in association with this case ... They need to reference the crimes that young Hispanic Americans are committing across Houston. This is merely a form of harassment, and I’m considering legal action against this municipality."
"If he’s so concerned about that, why is he making such an issue of posting a video?" Asked William Morris, another Josue Flores family spokesman. "That’s the dumbest thing you can do. If you’re tired of your name being drawn out in public, then back away. Keep going."
"My reaction is pretty much sadness, because someone is trying to defend himself and not show compassion towards the family—pretty much already raises a red flag," said Vega.
Meanwhile, police await new DNA test results after they shipped evidence to a different lab in Utah, and they’re continuing to ask the public for tips.
"If you do not want to speak to us, I understand, but we still want to hear from you through Crime Stoppers," one of the detectives working the case told viewers via video recorded by Josue’s family spokesmen.
A new team of cold case detectives has now taken over the investigation.
Crime Stoppers will be announcing a larger reward for information in the Josue Flores case by this weekend. Anyone with information that can help solve the case can call them anonymously at 713-222-TIPS.