Anita Byington, a 21-year old , was killed by a group of men outside her Austin apartment complex on Aug. 11, 1991.
“Anita had a wonderful sense of humor. She was hilarious.” Anita’s Cousin Kristina byington told Fox News Digital that she was always laughing. “She was extremely stylish and beautiful ….. She loved music like many of us back then. Even today, some music from the late ’80s and early ’90s can make me cry because it reminds me of her.
Allen Andre Causey was released from prison on parole last October after spending 30 years in prison for conviction in the murder of Byington.
Causey claims innocence
Causey started seeking exoneration in the spring of last year with the help of the Innocence Project of Texas (a nonprofit organization that helps release wrongly convicted individuals) and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. He claimed he had been coerced or intimidated by police officers to confess to the crime over 30 years ago.
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Anita and her parents Alfredo Byington and Sarah Byington who died over a decade ago.
In a Fox News Digital statement, the Innocence Project of Texas said that Mr. Causey had endured over three decades of imprisonment – and is now on parole – for an offense he didn’t commit. The project, with the help of Travis County District attorney Jose Garza, is leading Causey’s exoneration effort.
We are trying to correct a grave injustice.
The Innocence Project said that it has “no doubt about Mr. Causey’s innocence.” This is supported by new evidence, a disturbing pattern in the interrogation techniques used by the officers in the case, and several false confessions that were proven, such as Chris Ochoa’s testimony at the evidentiary proceedings.
Byington was a student of Southwest Texas State University at the time. She spent that evening, Aug. 10, 1991 on Sixth Street, with two females, one being her cousin, as well as two males. She was in her car with Kevin Harris, one of her male buddies, when she left the area. The next morning, her body was discovered near an apartment complex, where neither she, nor Harris lived.
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Harris, who, according to Garza, was not charged with Byington’s murder, but was still considered a suspect in the case, testified he had consenting sexual relations with Byington that evening. According to new forensic evidence, the DA’s Office is pointing him out as a possible suspect in this case. Garza’s Office noted that Harris had been “prosecuted for attacking a woman” in a different case in 1999.
“[A]dditional DNA testing of biological samples has been performed, which further implicates Marion Kevin Harris as the alternative perpetrator and exculpates Applicant.” In court documents, Assistant District Attorney Holly Taylor stated that the testing showed semen with Harris’s fingerprint was found on various parts of the victim’s clothes. The DNA profile of the applicant was not included in the biological samples that were tested.
Byington was a student of Southwest Texas State University when she spent the evening on Aug. 10, 1991 out on Sixth Street, with two females, including her cousin and two males.
Terry Keel was the original Travis County prosecutor who handled Byington’s trial when Causey, convicted in 1991 of murder, lived in a complex with crowded apartments. He told Fox News Digital that it “makes absolutely no sense” that Harris would take his date into a complex where he didn’t live to kill her. There is zero evidence that Harris did this.
Keel stated that “the evidence from 1992 strongly suggests Harris brought Anita Byington into the apartment complex. He got in over his heads in an attempt to purchase drugs, was assaulted, fled the scene and left Anita for robbery and to be beaten to death. Harris was not charged with any drug offenses in connection with the case.
Keel said that “the District Attorney’s attempt at claiming Harris as the attacker is only a vehicle for bootstrapping speculative circumstantial proof as justification to grant relief to the true killer.”
Last month, the former prosecutor submitted a 60-page brief explaining why Byingtons believes Causey isn’t telling the truth. Garza also explained why he took steps to keep Causey exoneration efforts a secret from Byington’s parents. The DA’s Office denies this. Garza’s Office stated in court documents that it has made numerous attempts to reach Byington’s Family since 2022.
Causey confessed in 1991 to the murder of Byington, with Bobby Harrell’s now-wife, Bobby Harrell. Causey claimed that she had “beaten him for some cocaine.” Causey then signed the confession after it was typed by an officer. According to Texas Monthly, prosecutors dropped the case against Harrell because of a lack evidence.
The Innocence Project of Texas stated that it was “grateful” to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, for their dedication to uncovering the truth in this case. While the organization “recognizes and respects the pain suffered by the victim’s families,” it is the “collective responsibility to pursue justice and truth.” ” (The Innocence Project of Texas).
Keel said that after Causey’s 1992 conviction, the DA’s Office decided to dismiss Harrell’s case because Causey refused to testify at the time. They hoped that the case could be refiled later.
Harrell told The Austin-American Statesman after he was freed in 1993, that the authorities “just had” to “pin” Byington’s death “on someone.”
Harrell stated that “Andre signed the wrong document and they set him to up.”
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Causey claims that Hector Polanco (, a former Austin police officer nicknamed “The Boogeyman”, for getting false confessions out of criminal suspects during the early 1990s) intimidated him to confess to the brutal crime. Polanco was infamous for helping to get two false confessions in the 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders. Texas Monthly reported this.
The Innocence Project of Texas expressed its gratitude to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, which “has committed to uncovering the truth in this case.” While the organization “recognizes and respects the pain suffered by the victim’s families,” they believe it’s their “collective responsibility to pursue justice and the truth.”
According to Texas Monthly, Causey claims that Hector Polanco intimidated him to confess to the violent crime. Polanco is a corrupt Austin police officer who has a reputation for obtaining false confessions from criminals.
Causey and his wife renewed their vows over the summer, according to the nonprofit.
Byington Family’s Concerns
Anita’s mother and father died over a decade before, and as she was the only child in her family, no one can dispute Causey’s claim. However, extended family members did express their belief to the court in August that he had indeed beaten the woman, aged 21, to death during the early hours of the morning on Aug. 11.
“I felt a punch to the gut when I received the news that Causey would be paroled.”
“I kept thinking I’m glad her parents won’t be alive to witness this.” It was a sick, ugly feeling but I told myself I shouldn’t think about it because I couldn’t do anything about it. Kristina added, “At least we received some justice. This is more than most families receive.”
She said that when she learned he was seeking exoneration she felt the same “sickness, but tenfold.” I have a great deal of anger towards Causey and also the Innocence Project of Texas, as well as the Travis County DA’s office, for the way they handled this case and treated the family.
Kristina stated in a statement read out in court on November 27 that the Innocence Project, the DA’s Office and her family appeared to have a “agenda”.
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If only one side is represented in the courtroom, then they can do pretty much anything they want.
Keel stated in his brief that writ procedures in Causey’s case were “kept secret for more than a year from October 3, 2020, to October 27, 2023” until the Byington Family independently discovered what was written in sealed court documents.
Garza’s Office told Fox News Digital: “It should be noted that the individual now representing the family, who filed the questionable brief was the original prosecutor in the case. A District Court Judge had already found that he failed to turn over exculpatory proof at the trial and that this failure was material. ”
Anita Byington and Kristina Byington at Christmas 1971. Anita had just turned 2 years old.
The DA’s Office said that allegations of misconduct by our [Conviction Integrity unit] were false.
Keel called the DA’s statement “false.”
He said: “I did not participate in any way in the discovery or pretrial proceedings in 1992. I am also not mentioned in any 2023 order, whether named or anonymously.”
Keel added, “The press should know that when the DA’s Office claims, ‘A District Court judge has already found he didn’t turn over exculpatory proof,’ they refer to a non-specific, secret preliminary ruling obtained in 2023 without a hearing in public and without the other side being heard. This may be a valid assertion by Causey in 2023 that the DA’s Office did not disclose all evidence in 1991-1992.” When the entire record is reviewed, it becomes clear that all exculpatory information was provided.
Causey’s confession and appeal
Keel notes in his brief that Causey stated during a 1991 pretrial hearing that he had not been forced to confess the crime. Causey stated that he did not understand his written testimony, as he was unable to read it.
Causey, in his trial, testified in 1992 that he had been coerced into confessing. Keel argues that Causey made this claim only after Polanco’s forced confessions were “publicized.”
A Travis County jury confirmed his conviction when Causey appealed the same year.
Terry Keel is the original Travis County prosecutor who was assigned to Anita’s case in 1991 when Causey had been convicted. Keel filed a 60 page amicus brief explaining last month why the Byingtons think Causey does not tell the truth, and why Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza took steps to keep Causey’s exoneration attempts a “secret” from Anita’s family.
Keel, in court documents, said that the District Attorney’s Office “collaborated as a team with Causey’s lawyers to achieve a desired result …. Causey admitted twice to separate police investigators. His voluntary signature was also witnessed by civilian staff.”
Kristina stated in a victim’s statement read in court on November 27 that she “has been treated like an enemy in this case,” but she “has only ever wanted justice for Anita’s murder.”
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The District Attorney’s Office also claimed this. She said that if the DA’s Office was truly interested in justice they were doing a poor job of seeking it. They, along with The Innocence Project claim that several police officers have lied and faked the confessions attributed to Causey. This is a bold claim.
Taylor said that Garza’s job is to make sure Causey wasn’t wrongly convicted during the 1990s.
She wrote: “A prosecutor’s job is to inform victims’ families of the relevant proceedings, and in this case he did so. However, it is not their duty to defend blindly wrongful convictions.” “The District Attorney’s actions in this matter are consistent with his ‘primary duty to not convict but to ensure justice is done’.”
Funding
Kristina pointed out that the Innocence Project of Texas had shared a picture of Causey last year on social media, before their writ of exoneration seeking their client’s exoneration, and asked followers for donations.
Terry Keel who was assistant district attorney in Travis County at the time Causey was convicted, last month filed a 60 page amicus brief explaining why the Byingtons think Causey isn’t telling the truth, and why Travis County’s DA Jose Garza took steps to keep Causey’s exoneration attempts a “secret” from Anita’s family.
Keel, in his amicus brief, wrote that “the victim’s family were not informed of any details of the writ proceedings by the District Attorney’s Office, until the family discovered on their own fundraising activities associated to Causey, placed on social media in the fall of 2020 by the Innocence Project of Texas, touting the exoneration of Causey before this writ inquiry had supposedly begun.” The victim’s family was not informed, consulted or warned by the District Attorney’s Office about its true position in this case over the course of one year.
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In September, Travis County DA’s Office announced the creation of a “Confession Review Team”: A joint venture between the Travis County District Attorney’s Office & the Innocence Project of Texas. This was after “a 1992 task force formed by APD & the Travis County District Attorney’s Office discovered six false confessions elicited in the scope of investigations of the homicide units.” The project is asking for funding of nearly $600,000.
Garza received funding during his 2020 campaign from George Soros, a billionaire financial networks.
According to Fox News Digital’s report, Soros donated $652,000 in the run-up to the DA elections to the Texas Justice & Public Safety PAC. The PAC spent almost $1 million on advertising to support Garza’s election.
In court documents, the DA’s Office addressed these concerns, stating that “District attorney Garza is not statutorily prohibited from representing the state in these habeas procedures and this Court cannot order prosecutor to recuse themselves under Texas law …. Furthermore, the District Attorney CIU’s action in this habeas matter is consistent with the duty to ensure justice and best practices for the conviction integrity unit.”
Fox News Andrew Mark Miller contributed this report.