Texas Murder Case Reexamined After 11 years: Family Holds Onto Hope for Justice

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]Liberty County murder case is back under review tonight after a judge found evidence may have been removed from the victim's body before police secured the scene and that key information may not have been fully disclosed to the defense. KPRC 2's Joy Addison joins us now for more on the new findings and how the victim's family is responding. Joy.

[00:00:18]That's right, Bill. Well, convicted killer Brandon Jenkins family is filled with emotion tonight. His sister says the court's latest findings confirm what the family has argued for years.

[00:00:31]Does your family believe that Brandon acted in self-defense that day? Of course. Of course. Ashley Thomas' brother Brandon Jenkins was convicted in a 2015 Liberty County murder case and sentenced to 99 years in prison. The family says a fight with Brandon's father-in-law, who Thomas says was his best friend, spiraled out of control.

[00:00:53]She and her family has spent 11 years fighting to prove Brandon did not receive a fair trial. A judge determined that the victim's son removed items from his body before law enforcement secured the scene. The court says prosecutors referenced a missing cell phone during opening statements at trial, but that information was never disclosed to the defense beforehand. He's been sitting in there for 11 years. That was his testimony in 2015 and it was overlooked.

[00:01:21]>> Thomas says it took years for the family to get to this point and a lot of time, money and outside help to reopen the case. She says it also makes her think about the families who may not have those resources. You could I could just imagine how many more people are fighting cases just like this. Now, she says the family is holding on to hope that her brother's case will bring attention to questions about fairness in the justice system and transparency during trials for both sides of the courtroom. All I would ask is they could just be fair.

[00:01:54]Be fair.

[00:01:55]Look at the facts.

[00:01:58]And this case now moves to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for a decision. Thomas says it took years for her family to get to this point, a lot of time, money, and outside resources, and she hopes that other families may not be put in this position. Maybe some lessons could be learned, she says, from her brother's case. Reporting from the newsroom, I'm Joy Addison. We'll be right back with sports after the break.