Plea bargain offered to 2 teens arrested outside Everman HS football game last year
EVERMAN (CBSNewsTexas.com) – Prosecutors have offered a plea bargain to two teenagers arrested outside a high school football game last fall, in a case where law enforcement said a tip helped a avert a possible mass shooting.
Court records show prosecutors in Tarrant County have offered Brandon Gipson and Isaac Cooper a $500 fine, and five years of deferred adjudication, with a curfew, that could keep the incident off their criminal records.
Everman police arrested the pair in September after a sheriff's deputy received a tip someone was headed to a homecoming football game for a shooting.
Police stopped the car at the entrance to the stadium and found an AR-style pistol and a 60-round magazine. At the time, Everman police said the tip may have saved countless lives.
The plea agreement, for unlawfully carrying a weapon in a school zone, hasn't been officially accepted yet. Court records show a status conference on the case is scheduled for next month.
A grand jury declined to indict them on a charge of abandoning or endangering a child, connected to a 10-year-old boy police said was also in the car. The DA's office explained in an email that the elements "were not present" for another charge against Cooper, for making a terroristic threat.
Everman Police and the Tarrant County Sheriff were not immediately aware of the status of the case Thursday and unable to comment.
Former prosecutor Tiffany Burks, now with Fort Worth firm Varghese Summersett, explained that it was possible further investigation on the case showed it was not what it was originally thought to be.
Prosecutors, she said, also likely took into account the ages of the men accused (Gipson, 19-years-old; Cooper, 18-years-old) and any criminal history. Not following conditions of probation could also result in either man still seeing 2 to 20 years in prison.
"Things such as taking urinalysis, to make sure they're not doing drugs, make sure they're not violating any new laws. And if someone is having difficulty with the bond condition, they may have difficulty with the probation conditions," she said.
Records show a warrant was issued Tuesday for Gipson's arrest after he may have tampered with a GPS monitoring device. Records show Cooper also violated bond once in November.
Attorneys for Gipson and Cooper hadn't replied Thursday to questions about the case.
A spokesperson for Everman ISD wrote in a statement, "Everman ISD appreciates everything that the law enforcement officers did in protecting the citizens that night. We will continue to work with law enforcement and our community to keep Everman safe."
