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(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) Kendrex White’s Attorney Jana Ortega speaks to the media in December 2018 after White was ruled not guilty by reason of insanity for the May, 1 2017 killing of Harrison Brown. -
(ARCHIVE PHOTO | THE GRAHAM LEADER) The families and survivors of Kendrex White’s stabbing spree speak to the media after the judge’s ruling of not guilty by reason of insanity in December 2018. Shown from left to right are former Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore, Harrison’s brother and mother John and Lori Brown, survivor Stuart Bayliss and his parents Shellane and Paul Bayliss. -
(CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS) Graham High School Class of 2016 graduate Harrison Brown died from injuries sustained in a stabbing spree in 2017. Kendrex White, who perpetrated the spree, is having a hearing next week to determine if he is released from a mental health facility in Kerrville.
A court hearing this week to determine if Kendrex White could be released from a forensic mental health facility was postponed.
After being found not guilty by reason of insanity for the May 2017 fatal stabbing of Harrison Brown, White had a hearing scheduled for 10:15 a.m. Thursday, July 17 at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin.
That hearing was postponed due to the flooding in Kerrville, where White is being held at a forensic mental health facility.
Harrison Brown was a 2016 graduate of Graham High School who was attacked in a stabbing spree along with three other students at the University of Texas at Austin in 2017. Of the four that were injured by White, Brown was the only who died due to his injuries.
Harrison’s brother John released a statement Thursday, July 17 regarding the motion to transfer White to an outpatient care facility.
“A hearing on whether that should happen was scheduled to take place today, but has now been continued to September. While I forgive my brother’s killer, public safety requires that he remain in inpatient care,” John Brown said. “Not only was my brother murdered that day, three other individuals were stabbed and survived. My mother and I will do everything in our power to ensure that the victims, their families and our communities are protected. Thank you all deeply for your love, prayers and support. In the meantime, Love Hard.”
White, who was diagnosed with a schizoaffective disorder, was ruled not guilty by reason of insanity Dec. 11, 2018 in Travis County.
Following the ruling, he was transferred for treatment to North Texas State Hospital in Vernon and later to Kerrville State Hospital.
Harrison’s mother, Lori Brown, has been his advocate with John for years and said when they received the news about the hearing, they had one pressing question – “What has changed?”
Brown said she received the call in the beginning of June from the district attorney’s office in Austin and they explained what the hearing would entail.
“We were a little shocked that it’s only been eight years,” Brown said. “When they came down with the verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, we were not 100% happy with that, but they told us that because his mental illness was so severe he would probably never get out of Vernon, the maximum security facility. He was in Vernon for eight months and then he was moved to Kerrville.”
Brown said during the hearing that White will make an appearance with his doctor to argue that he is no longer a harm to himself or anyone.
“Now his doctors feel like he’s ready to go into a probation facility, which is somewhere in Bexar County, which would be San Antonio. He will be able to come and go and he will have to report daily (and) somebody there will be making sure that he’s taking his medication. Then from there, the next step will be his total release into the public,” she said.
Having the opportunity only eight years after being placed into a forensic mental health facility to be released to the public was something unexpected to Brown and her family.
“We were also told that if he did get out of Vernon, it would be decades before he would ever get out or start to move through the system,” she said. “We were shocked, and our question was ‘What’s changed? What’s happened here?’”
The Austin American-Statesman spoke with Brown at the beginning of July and received a statement from the Travis County District Attorney’s Office regarding the hearing.
“The Travis County District Attorney’s Office opposes the potential modification of Mr. White’s inpatient commitment to outpatient status,” the office said in a statement to the Statesman. “We look forward to the upcoming hearing, during which we will request that he continue to receive inpatient mental health services to ensure the safety of our community.”
The community of Graham has been supportive of Brown and her family since the beginning and are continuing their support. Regardless of the decision of the hearing, Brown said that she wants Harrison’s memory to live on.
“I don’t want him to be forgotten. There’s just way too much good there and things that would make you smile,” she said. “Every year, when May 1 rolls around, I’m just amazed at the support and the love and the prayers and the people that reach out to me. It just means the world to me. It really does.”
