Roger Estlack

The man accused of a 2019 double murder in Howardwick was found not guilty by reason of insanity last week.

Jarvis Fierro, 33, of Amarillo had been charged with capital murder for shooting his own brother, James Fierro, and his brother’s girlfriend, Candice Garrett.

District Attorney Luke Inman, along with Assistant District Attorney Harley Caudle, prosecuted the case for the State of Texas, with the Honorable Judge Stuart Messer presiding with the court meeting in Memphis last Thursday, April 21.

Fierro and Garrett were killed by multiple gunshot wounds, at their home in Howardwick late on the evening of February 18, 2019. An investigation by the Donley County Sheriff’s Office began immediately after receiving a 911 call from one of the four children in the home where the murders took place.

During last week’s hearing, Messer stated that it is hard to imagine what the children went through that night in their house, and what they continue to suffer as a result of Jarvis Fierro’s actions.

The Texas Ranger’s Division was also utilized to find who was responsible for the murders, arriving at the crime scene within an hour of receiving a request for assistance from the Donley County Sheriff’s Office.

After an intensive investigation, Texas Ranger Scott Swick and Donley County Sheiff Butch Blackburn arrested Fierro on February 22, 2019, for the two murders. Fierro has been in Donley County custody since that date.

According to the District Attorney’s Office, law enforcement acted swiftly in identifying and arresting the defendant in less than 96 hours from the murders.

An electronic search warrant obtained by Swick determined the defendant was in proximity of victims’ home at the time of the crime, which in turn led to all the other pieces falling in place rapidly, according to court documents.

To stand trial for any criminal offense, the defendant must be competent to stand trial and found to be sane at the time of the offense, said Inman.

Fierro was initially found incompetent to stand trial in December of 2019, according to court documents.

“Mental disease, defect and illness plays a major role in our everyday job duties and responsibilities as prosecutors,” said Inman. “Defendants raise these types of defenses all the time and there are protocols that the State must follow to seek the fair administration of justice.”

Fierro was ordered to the maximum-security state hospital in Vernon, Texas for possible competency restoration, according to court documents.

After Fierro’s competency was restored in March, an insanity examination was performed by two court-appointed psychiatrists.

Both psychiatrists concluded that Fierro was schizophrenic at the time of the murders, and continues to be so today, according to court documents.

The insanity defense is an affirmative defense that must be proven by the defendant, said Inman.

According to court documents, Fierro was experiencing severe mental delusions at the time the murders took place.

“Once someone is found insane at the time of the offense, there are very strict guidelines and procedures that the court must follow,” said Inman. “One specific section in the Texas code of criminal procedure, Chapter 46C, applies in all criminal proceedings when someone is deemed insane. The procedure is the same in a capital murder case, all the way down to a class c misdemeanor punishable by fine only.”

After the determination was made by medical professionals that Fierro was insane at the time of the offense, defense counsel for Fierro, Earl Griffin, Jr. and Sage Seal, both of Childress, moved to raise the affirmative defense and their client pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
After reviewing the medical reports and opinions from the physiatrists, the state agreed with the defense, said Inman.

“Candy and James were two caring individuals who liked everyone in their small community, neither one of them deserved to be murdered in such a horrendous way,” said Paige Mitchell, stepmother to three of Garrett’s children. “The last few years since the murder of James and Candy have been hard for all family members left behind. The children try to focus on the good memories they have. Candy was a wonderful mother adored by all of her family and friends, but especially by her children. This verdict is not easy to understand, but we realize there are certain laws in place that we cannot control. He is a monster and should never be able to be in free society again.”

The rules set forth by Chapter 46C control the future of Fierro’s commitment status from this point forward, said Inman.

“We don’t like it, but we don’t make the rules,” said Caudle. “Our office has every confidence in the diagnosis made by the psychiatrists. This is the system the federal and state legislatures have created for criminal prosecution, and this is the only option we have under our system.”
The law requires in-patient or out-patient care once a defendant is found not guilty by reason of insanity, according to Inman.

“Fierro’s actions make him the most dangerous type of individual we unfortunately have to deal with,” said Inman. “We will continue to fight for all the victims of this case and society as a whole that this person remains at a maximum-security in-patient facility for the remainder of his life.”

Fierro will now be sent to the maximum-security state hospital in Vernon for a 30-day evaluation and treatment, at which point Messer will determine if Fierro is a serious danger to others. If he is, Messer can commit Fierro to a state hospital for up to six months and then on a yearly basis thereafter.