Mother of Garrett Foster speaks out after Gov. Abbott says he wants to pardon the man who killed him
AUSTIN (CBSNewsTexas.com) – It's something almost unheard of coming from a sitting Texas governor.
Governor Greg Abbott used social media over the weekend to announce he would work to pardon a man only a day after that man was convicted of murder.
Daniel Perry was found guilty by a jury last week for killing Garrett Foster, who was among those protesting in Austin during the Black Lives Matter protests.
Conservative leaders have rallied behind the now convicted murderer claiming it was self-defense.
The victim's mother shares the pain the governor's words are causing her.
When a Travis County jury found Daniel Perry guilty of murder for the death of 28-year-old Garrett Foster in Downtown Austin, Sheila Foster says the relief she felt after her nearly three year search for justice didn't last long.
"And when this happened on Saturday, it literally buckled me over," said Sheila Foster, mother of Garrett Foster. "I haven't left my house. I didn't do anything on Easter. I'm shaking like a leaf right now I'm sick to my stomach. I can't eat anything, and it's almost like all that weight was lifted in that verdict and now it feels like the biggest hammer in the world is come down crashing on me."
That hammer, according to the murder victim's mother, came in the form of a tweet by Abbott the day after the verdict, which said "I am working as swiftly as Texas law allows regarding the pardon of Sergeant Perry."
The tweet goes on to suggest that the actions of Perry, a Fort Hood Army sergeant, should have been justified as self defense.
Attorney General Ken Paxton posted later that he agreed with the governor.
That's despite a jury's unanimous decision that Perry was guilty of murder after hearing from 40 witnesses and deliberating for 15 hours.
"I would honestly ask just anyone, including the governor if you're trying to take a side in this deal, at least look at the evidence first," Sheila Foster said.
That evidence presented during the two week trial showed that both men were legally armed when Perry, who was working as an Uber driver, turned onto a Downtown Austin street blocked by a crowd of 20 Black Lives Matter protestors in July 2020.
Garrett Foster, who had been protesting alongside his girlfriend for 50 straight days, approached Perry's vehicle armed with a rifle.
Perry opened fire, claiming Garrett Foster raised his weapon which witnesses denied.
Prosecutors presented some of Perry's messages and social media comments in the weeks before which said, "I might have to kill a few people on my way to work, they are rioting outside my apartment complex" and "I might go to Dallas to shoot looters."
The victim's mother and her civil attorney find it inappropriate, to say the least, that the two most powerful men in the state would interfere in a murder trial that's still not over.
"The governor is the most powerful, elected official in the state of Texas," said Sheila Foster's civil attorney, Quentin Brogdon. "Nobody, including the governor of the State of Texas, should shut down the process of the rule of law and it appears that's what the intent is here."
"I just can't believe it's happening. I cannot believe this is happening," said Sheila Foster. "I feel like Garrett was marching for our equality and for our constitutional rights, our first amendment rights and our Second Amendment rights...I just feels like it's weird because he died fighting for those things."
Sheila Foster will be in the courtroom when the trial resumes Tuesday.
Perry faces a sentence of up to life in prison.