‘No DNA test could ever link me to him,’ accused killer of Josue Flores claims

In a 10-minute YouTube rant uploaded in late May, the man accused of stabbing 11-year-old Josue Flores nearly 20 times proclaimed his innocence as detectives built a case against him.

A Harris County grand jury indicted Andre Jackson, 29, for the murder of Josue, a charge for which he was arrested Tuesday morning. Jackson was initially arrested in June 2016, days after the preteen was killed in the 1900 block of Fulton in his Near Northside neighborhood as he walked home from school.

Prosecutors moved to drop the first charge against Jackson in July 2017 since they couldn’t prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt if it were to go to trial. Instead, prosecutors worked closely with Houston Police Department homicide detectives in building the case against Jackson.

Weeks after detectives sent DNA evidence to a lab in Utah for testing, the grand jury indicted Jackson, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced.

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: Harris County DA: Andre Jackson indicted in murder of 11-year-old Josue Flores

The video was uploaded to Jackson’s YouTube account days after a press conference marking the third anniversary of Josue’s death this past May. In it, Jackson claims his innocence.

“Quite frankly, I’m just tired of hearing my name associated with this case in the context of being a person of interest or a suspect in the case,” Jackson said.

He was not under indictment for Josue’s murder at the time he recorded the video.

“Today’s technology is good enough to detect even the smallest DNA with the standard tests in the crime labs,” Jackson said. “They are just trying to save face and console the community. They’re going about it in the wrong way by trying to disseminate false hope that one day I will be proven as Josue Flores’s killer.”

“I am not his killer,” he said.

Instead, Jackson pointed the finger at the Latino community in Houston, an accusation for which he provided no evidence.

“They need to reference the crime that young Hispanics are committing across Houston,” he said. “This is nearly a form a harassment.”

Jackson is facing up to life in prison, if convicted.