Results tagged “rickdetoto”

Lawyers on both sides of the Ashley Benton murder trial are in court this morning for a hearing in which prosecutors were expected to say whether the intend to retry Benton on the original murder charge, try her on a lesser charge or drop charges altogether — or, perhaps, to accept a plea counteroffer from Benton's attorneys. Lawyers for Benton, who is accused of murder in the stabbing death of gang member Gabriel Granillo at... more ›

Ashley Benton took the stand in her own defense during her murder trial yesterday, testifying that she didn't mean to hurt anyone when she went with friends to a gang "rumble" at Chew Park last summer, but doing nothing to explain discrepancies in her statements to police. "It was a bad decision on my part," Benton, 17, said of buying the $8 knife she used to kill 14-year-old gang member Gabriel Granillo during the June... more ›

The first gang member testified yesterday in the trial of Ashley Benton, the 17-year-old girl accused of stabbing 15-year-old Gabriel Granillo to death last summer during a gang fight at Chew Park — and he told jurors that Granillo wasn't trying to run away from the fight, as prosecutors had said during opening arguments Monday. The witness — a 20-year-old members of Southwest Locos Salvatrucha, a Houston subset of the MS-13 gang, who calls himself... more ›

Ashley Paige Benton, the 16-year-old girl accused of stabbing a 15-year-old to death during a June 6 gang fight at Chew Park, posted bail and left jail Monday morning. She will remain under house arrest in a situation where her relatives can care for her and she can be home schooled, attorney Rick DeToto said. During a hearing yesterday, state District Judge Devon Anderson said she was concerned about reported death threats against Benton and... more ›

Looks like Ashley Paige Benton, the sweet-natured, Bible-reading teenage girl her lawyer says was forced to stab a 15-year-old boy repeatedly during a gang attack in early June, is finding out murder is kind of a hard thing to deal with: a state district judge ruled Monday that Benton, 16, will stand trial as an adult. In issuing his ruling on the 16-year-old's case, state District Judge Pat Shelton cited the "heinous" nature of the... more ›

The latest in the case of Ashley Paige Benton, the 16-year-old girl charged with murder in the June 6 stabbing death of a teen during a Montrose gang fight: Harris County prosecutors said this morning they will seek to have her tried as an adult. A hearing on whether to certify her as an adult is set for a week from today: [State District Judge Pat] Shelton told Benton this morning that he bases his... more ›

In an unexpected move Wednesday, State District Court Judge Pat Shelton set the trial date for Ashley Paige Benton, the 16-year-old girl accused of stabbing a teen to death in a gang fight, at Aug. 7. The date is barely two months after Benton reportedly killed Gabriel Granillo during an ambush at Chew Park, and it's far sooner than attorneys on either side predicted. "I anticipate neither the state nor the defense is going to... more ›

The lawyer for Ashley Paige Benton, the 16-year-old girl charged with stabbing a 15-year-old boy in a gang fight in early June changed his tune and asked for Benton to be released from custody Friday, but a judge ruled that Benton will remain in jail because of the seriousness of the charge against her. Rick DeToto, the attorney, asked the court to keep Benton in custody last month because he said she would have been in danger if she was released; it's not clear what caused him to ask for her release this week. more ›

A judge ordered today that Ashley Paige Benton, the 16-year-old girl accused of stabbing teen Gabriel Granillo to death at a Montrose-area park June 6, will remain in jail because her attorney believes she's in danger. Today's hearing was the second time Benton's lawyer, Rick DeToto, has said Benton has received death threats and could be at risk if she's released. more ›

A judge ruled today that Ashley Paige Benton, the 16-year-old girl accused of killing a teen last week during a gang ambush at Ervan Chew Park, should remain in custody because of threats against her. The ruling came after Benton's attorney, Rick DeToto, asked that she be kept in custody and away from other gang members so she doesn't get killed. DeToto said it's probably the first time in his career that he's asked authorities... more ›