Saturday, April 21, 2007

Alleged donut shop killer’s trial Monday

April 21, 2007
By Jessica Robertson
Baytown Sun (Texas, USA)


The capital murder trial of a 17-year-old Baytown man charged in the 2005 homicide of doughnut shop owner Bunrith In is scheduled to begin Monday.

Jarrett Driver, who was 15 at the time of the murder, is accused of stabbing In to death at Dina’s Donuts, 3712 W. Baker Road. In, 47, was born in Cambodia and left the country in 1979.

His family operated the doughnut shop along with a Laundromat and dry cleaners in the Baker Road shopping center. After his murder, the In family reopened Dina’s Donuts under new management but sold all three buildings last summer.

The Laundromat and dry cleaners still stand, current owner Song Choi said, but the doughnut shop is now La Potosina No. 2, a combination taqueria/meat market that opened in March.

Police said Driver placed an order with In’s wife around 4:40 a.m. on Aug. 13, 2005, shortly after she and her husband opened the store for business. When Driver pulled out a semiautomatic weapon, she screamed for help from In, who was in the kitchen, police said.

Driver reportedly told In he wanted money, but when he was given all the cash in the register — $20 — he became upset and demanded more. When In offered him a box of change, the suspect became even angrier, according to police.

At that point, police said, Driver pulled out a knife with a 5-inch to 6-inch blade and chased the couple around the shop with both weapons. When In’s wife fell to the floor, he attempted to help her, but Driver stabbed him 13 times before leaving the store with the $20.

In’s wife recognized Driver as a frequent customer and helped police create a sketch, which led to his arrest. Because Driver was a juvenile at the time of the crime, he was held in a Harris County juvenile facility for three months before he was certified to stand trial as an adult.

Although Driver will be considered an adult, he is not eligible for the death penalty in the capital murder case because of a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. If convicted, he would automatically receive a life sentence, with the possibility of parole after 40 years in prison.

Prosecutors have also filed an aggravated robbery charge against Driver. If he is convicted of both charges, prosecutors intend to seek for his sentences to be “stacked,” meaning he would have to serve the full 40 years for the capital murder charge before he could begin serving a sentence for the robbery charge.

After a pre-trial setting on Thursday, prosecutors selected a jury panel on Friday and will proceed with opening arguments for the capital murder charge on Monday, said assistant district attorney Bill Hawkins, who heads the Harris County juvenile division.

According to court documents, Driver received deferred prosecution in 2003 after he was referred to the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department for allegedly assaulting a family member.

Later that year, he was charged with theft, but that charge was non-suited. In 2004, he was charged with assault of a public servant and placed on a 12-month juvenile probation.

He successfully completed the terms of his probation and spent several months in a juvenile facility before being released to his mother’s custody.

Driver attended Horace Mann Junior School and Robert E. Lee and Ross S. Sterling high schools, where he had 208 unexcused absences in his freshman year and was sent to the principal’s office 45 times.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, let him go, he (Jarrett Driver)
is just a child.

Anonymous said...

well, fuck you mother fucker 3:44pm. We'll let him go when he raped and kill one of you sister first. Ashole...!

Anonymous said...

Yeah, but you guys are space-aged
people with all sorts of advance
medicines. If it bother you, just
plop a couple of them baby down,
and you feel better the following
day, as though the crime had never
existed. So, what is the big deal?

I can't say the same thing for
Khmer because we are still in
stone-aged.

Anonymous said...

I personally want to see the guy get the full sentence. Burith In was my dad and i miss him dearly. I have been waiting for this day to come for a long time. The kid knew what he was doing and should receive what was done to my father. I don't think i will ever forgive the guy.

Anonymous said...

Gee,..., sorry about that 11:18
and please extend my condolences to
your family, relatives and friends
for me. I do agree with you on how
Jarett should be treated, but your
blue-eyed Goddess think he's only
a baby.