HOUSTON, TX — A Houston area family is asking to be left alone after receiving numerous threats on social media in the days following the shooting of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes.
The threats began after police released a sketch that resembled a man arrested in Montgomery County the day after the killing.
Robert Cantrell, 48, who was wanted on two felony warrants in Polk County, was arrested Dec. 31 after he snatched a woman’s purse outside of a Walgreens in New Caney.
He led police on a short chase before crashing his car, and trying to flee on foot.
He is being held without bond on multiple felony charges including robbery, burglary of a vehicle, evading arrest, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and other felony charges, officials said.
Authorities in Harris County initially said the suspect was a white man in his 40s with blue eyes, wearing a dark hoodie and driving a red pickup.
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Based on witness accounts, police created and released a composite sketch, which looked oddly like Cantrell.
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News of Cantrell’s arrest was published at about the same time the Harris County Sheriff’s Office released the sketch, and it didn’t take long for the speculation and threats to begin.
New York activist Shaun King, who along with attorney Lee Merritt, offered a $100,000 reward for the shooter’s capture, posted a photo of Cantrell’s mugshot next to the composite sketch on his Twitter account.
The tweet, which has since been deleted, called Cantrell a violent racist, according to a KTRK report, and demanded answers from Cantrell’s family.
In the days leading up to an arrest of two suspects in the case, Hailey Cantrell, who is Robert Cantrell’s niece, said she’d received numerous threats on her Facebook Page after King’s tweet went viral.
Those included violent threats of rape, torture, and murder of her and family members, KTRK reported.
Cantrell said it frightened her when she saw the sketch because it did indeed resemble her uncle.
Other people also noticed the uncanny resemblance, with several comments being shared by Patch readers.
“Is it me or does this guy’s face look a lot like the guy they’re looking for in the killing of Jazmine Barnes,” Ray Gomez asked in an email to Patch. “I can’t be the only one noticing this.”
On Saturday, the rhetoric dissipated when police announced a person of interest and subsequent arrest of 20-year-old Eric Black, after receiving a tip from King.
Officials said Sunday that Black allegedly confessed to taking part in the shooting, and that the shooting was a case of mistaken identity.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said during a press conference that the person driving the red pickup was likely a witness who got scared and fled when he heard the gunshots.
Black has allegedly admitted to driving the car during the shooting, and implicated Larry Woodruffe, 24, as the shooter.
So far, charges have not been filed against Woodruffe for his alleged role in the shooting. He is in the Harris County Jail on an unrelated narcotics charge with bail set at $100,000.
Black is charged with capital murder and is being held without bail.
Meanwhile, Hailey Cantrell said she was still receiving social media threats up until Monday, even though Woodruffe and Black are in custody.
Now, she just wants the comments to stop, and for her family to be left alone.
“I just want everyone to back off. The truth is out,” she said. “It had nothing to do with us, nothing to do with my uncle at all.”
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