Amerson case receives trial date after five years

SAN MARCOS — Chelesta Amerson wore a black dress that day. As she prepared for the three-hour trip to San Marcos, she thought about the possibility that her son would be returning with her that evening. Her mood began to change as the hearing continued, realizing that she would be alone that night. Five hours prior, she had no idea that she was unknowingly dressing to mourn the loss of her son once more as she watched him exit through the courtroom.

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Clad in dark blue jail attire and cuffed at the wrist, waist and ankles, DeVonte Amerson, who has been incarcerated since March 2018, appeared in court on Tuesday, Aug. 1 for a pretrial hearing on a capital murder charge.

Prior to the hearing, Amerson filed a motion to dismiss the case with prejudice, citing speedy trial violations.

Both DeVonte and Cyrus Gray III were charged with the 2015 murder of Justin Gage. The San Marcos Police Department reported that Gage and another friend were attacked in the early hours of Dec. 6, 2015, when Gage was shot and later succumbed to his injuries.

Whether he was worried about the result or simply not accustomed to the environment around him, DeVonte’s head was down for most of the time he spent in the public eye that day, but he was not alone. Support was evident as his mother, his previous co-defendant Gray, founder of Hays County Jail Advocates Amy Kamp and others sat in attendance on the benches behind him.

“The defendant’s 6th and 5th Amendments of the United States Constitution have been severely violated. The defendant has been incarcerated five years, four months, 16 days and counting — still having no trial date set after making numerous attempts at filing for a speedy trial,” DeVonte’s motion reads.

The rest of the motion filed on July 27 includes what he believes is justification for dismissal, such as lack of evidence, witness recantation, multiple speedy trial motions and “vindictive and heinous acts” by First Assistant District Attorney Gregg Cox and attorney Paul Evans. Throughout the handwritten motion, DeVonte cited various amendments and court cases to support the claims on his behalf.

The motion was not acknowledged at the hearing on Aug. 1.

Instead, Cox and Evans discussed that they were both ready to go to trial and requested another pretrial hearing — now on Aug. 14.

The pretrial hearing came after Gray had his case dismissed without prejudice two weeks prior. Without prejudice denotes that the state can opt to charge Gray again in the future on the same charge, allowing it to avoid potential double jeopardy.

“I’m just frustrated,” said Chelesta. “Stuck in the same place [as before]. No communication with the lawyer … I confronted [him] with filing this motion, ‘Will you file this motion?’ And I kept telling him it’s a yes or no question and he wouldn’t answer it, so before [the attorney] files this motion, he would rather say he’s ready for trial.”

Since the hearing, DeVonte has had a trial date set for Oct. 16, 2023; however, according to Gray, this makes no difference, as he stated that they had numerous trial dates slated for his case only to have them canceled at the last minute.

“We hope the DA's office comes to its senses and drops the charges against DeVonte Amerson instead of proceeding with this trial. We saw at Cyrus Gray's trial that the credible evidence against him and Devonte is non-existent,” said Kamp. “It's long past time to right this wrong. Dropping the charges against Cyrus was a good first step, but they need to free DeVonte and reopen the investigation into Justin Gage's murder, including looking at the other suspect that was mentioned during Cyrus' trial.”