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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A Houston police officer won’t face charges for a crash that killed a man who was walking on a sidewalk in Sunnyside last December. The recent decision is one that’s devastated the man’s family.
“That’s kind of hard. That was my last family member,” Timothy Jackson said, whose brother Michael Wayne Jackson was killed on Dec. 4, 2021 along Reed Road.
A few weeks ago, a Harris County grand jury declined to indict Houston Police Officer Orlando Hernandez, 25, for criminally negligent homicide in the death of Michael Wayne Jackson. His partner, who was also in the car that night, was not a part of the grand jury investigation and was already back on the job. The story was first reported by our partners at the Houston Chronicle
Timothy Jackson and his brother lived together in a nearby home. The brothers, both suffering different ailments, relied on each other and were best friends. For two days, Timothy Jackson didn’t know his brother had died.
“I had envisioned seeing some more good days. So all of that is over now. Maybe it’s not important to anybody else, but it’s important to me,” Timothy Jackson said, as he’s now living alone and taking care of his brother’s dog.
Surveillance and dashcam video showed the police car that hit Michael Wayne Jackson was speeding along Reed Road at Scott Street when it crashed at Reed.
Officers were on their way to help another officer arrest five teenagers involved in an alleged carjacking and chase.
“Not surprising, but they should be held accountable for that,” Janice Jackson, Michael Wayne Jackson’s widow, said. “You know, they killed someone’s loved one, and (took) someone’s loved one away from them.”
But the Jacksons are not alone in their grief.
Autrey Davis, a young mother, was killed when a Harris County Sheriff’s patrol unit smashed into her car in January. Her 3-year-old son, Kyle, was severely injured. The family’s attorneys said Kyle needs contentious medical care and is on a feeding tube. However, the same grand jury also no billed Deputy Dontre Thomas for the fatal crash, but he was fired from the sheriff’s department.
There was the crash that killed 75-year-old Charles Payne. A Houston police car hit Payne’s car on Dec. 26, 2021. Bodycam video shows the officer was driving well above the speed limit when the crash happened. It’s unknown at this point whether that officer will face charges because the grand jury proceedings are secret.