A man just days from trial for the murder of a 9-year-old girl in Dallas County is missing after the District Attorney’s office said 23-year-old Tyrese Simmons removed his ankle monitor. .
In just three days, a Dallas County jury was scheduled to hear the case against Simmons.
The 23-year-old is charged with the 2019 murder of 9-year-old Brandoniya Bennett.
Dallas police said the girl was killed when Simmons, who was in a fight with a fellow rapper, shot up in her Old East Dallas apartment by mistake.
A second man charged with Bennett’s murder, Davonte Benton, was convicted last year and sentenced to 45 years in prison.
But a week before Simmons’ trial, Dallas County Pretrial Services said it received a tampering alert for the ankle monitor Simmons has worn since he was released on bail in December 2019.
Court documents say all attempts to contact Simmons have been unsuccessful and his whereabouts remain unknown.
His disappearance comes just days after Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill criminalizing tampering with ankle monitors.
This is legislation that was proposed after a man on probation killed two Methodist Dallas Medical Center employees in October, and that had the support of several North Texans, including the Dallas police chief. Eddie Garcia.
“We are giving our violent criminals too many opportunities and not giving our victims and communities and neighborhoods enough opportunities,” Garcia said at a press conference on the bill in March.
On Friday night, the District Attorney’s office said a warrant for Simmons’ arrest remained active.
