HOUSTON – On the third day of testimony in the manslaughter trial of Tony Earls, jurors were shown the gun investigators say killed 9-year-old Arlene Alvarez and heard hours of detailed testimony from firearm, forensic, and digital experts as both sides try to answer a central question: was Tony Earls firing at a fleeing robber or shooting recklessly?
Tony Earls is charged with manslaughter after a bullet he fired struck and killed Arlene Alvarez in February 2022. The Alvarez family was driving past a bank drive-thru when Earls opened fire after he and his wife were held at gunpoint during a robbery. One of those shots hit the child, who was in the backseat of her family’s truck.
Earls, and his attorneys, maintain he believed he was firing at the fleeing robber. Prosecutors argue he was shooting indiscriminately, endangering innocent lives.
Prosecutors presented enhanced surveillance video and forensic analysis that they say shows muzzle flashes from Earls’ gun. Digital forensic investigator Zachary Caldwell explained how he merged footage and audio from multiple sources to create a synchronized timeline of the shooting.
“What you’re seeing, these spikes… each one is a gunshot… each muzzle flash matches,” Caldwell testified as the video played for the jury.
The presence or absence of visible muzzle flashes has become a key point of contention in the trial. Prosecutors are trying to prove that Earls’ gun was being fired recklessly. The defense argues that certain types of ammunition can suppress muzzle flash and that lighting or camera angles may obscure it entirely.
Melissa Nally, a senior firearm examiner with the Houston Forensic Science Center, told jurors that in her lab experience, she has not seen a firearm that doesn’t produce some kind of flash.
“There are flash suppressors,” she said. “But in my experience firing firearms into our water tank in a lab setting, I have not experienced one not having a flash.”
Defense attorney Ed McClees pushed back, presenting advertisements from ammunition manufacturers promoting “low-flash” rounds.
“The amount of muzzle blast can depend on many different factors, true?” McClees asked. “Yes, that’s true,” Nally replied.
McClees then questioned whether ammunition additives could reduce muzzle flash, to which Nally agreed though she said that’s not her area of specialty.
Five witnesses took the stand on Friday, including:
- Owen Bledsoe, an investigator with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, who used 3D laser scanners to document the crime scene. He reviewed previous testimony, including that of Arlene’s father, Armando Alvarez, who initially testified that he believed Earls and the robber were “shooting at each other.”
In court, McClees pressed Bledsoe to acknowledge the statement from the previous transcript.
“Did I misread that?” McClees asked. “No, not at all,” Bledsoe responded. “Was that so hard to just agree?” McClees added.
- Sarah Lambert, a crime scene investigator with the Houston Forensic Science Center, walked the jury through over 100 photos taken from inside and outside the Alvarez family’s truck, including the bullet’s entry point. She also noted a sweatshirt with blood inside the vehicle that had not been removed because “no one requested that.”
- Nicholas Pullman, an HPD officer who took Earls’ initial statement and collected the gun that night, appeared via Zoom from Hawaii, where he is currently on vacation.
The defense maintains that Earls fired in fear, believing the robber or someone associated with the robber was returning to harm him and his wife. That point led to a tense courtroom exchange late in the day.
“If Mr. Earls believes the pickup truck is associated with the robber,” McClees said. “And he believes that truck is coming back at him, can’t you come to understand why he might be afraid to take a shot at it?”
Prosecutor Maroun Koutani objected, calling the question speculative.
“Why don’t you just say objection it hurts my case? That’s what he’s suggesting,” McClees fired back. The judge responded: “give me a legal objection, please.”
Caldwell, who was still on the stand, answered, “I’m not really sure that I can speak to what his internal process would be at that point.”
Prosecutors said they expect to rest their case on Monday, at which point the defense will begin presenting its side.