Solved case · 1977
Also known as Killing of Joe Campos Torres · Joe Campos Torres's murder
The short answer
José "Joe" Campos Torres, a 23-year-old Mexican-American Army veteran, was beaten by Houston Police Department officers after his arrest on May 5, 1977, and his body was found three days later in Buffalo Bayou. Two officers received only probation and a $1 fine at the state level, sparking outrage and the 1978 Moody Park Riot; three officers were later convicted federally of civil rights violations.
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Suggest coverage for Killing of José Campos TorresJosé "Joe" Campos Torres was a 23-year-old Mexican-American Army veteran living in Houston's East End neighborhood. Torres had an eighth-grade education, hoped to open a karate school, and had served in the U.S. Army before receiving a general discharge in September 1976 tied to reported struggles with alcohol. Friends and family described him as generally composed when sober but prone to aggression when intoxicated.
On the night of May 5, 1977, Torres was at Club 21, a bar in Houston's predominantly Hispanic East End, wearing his army fatigues and boots. Police arrested him for disorderly conduct. Six responding officers took Torres to a location known as "The Hole," an area behind a warehouse overlooking Buffalo Bayou, and beat him there. Officers then brought him to the city jail, but staff refused to process him because of his injuries. A supervisor ordered that Torres be taken to Ben Taub Hospital for treatment; instead, the officers returned him to "The Hole" and pushed him into the water. His body was recovered three days later, floating in Buffalo Bayou near the 1200 block of Commerce Street in downtown Houston.
Two of the arresting officers, Terry W. Denson and Stephen Orlando, were charged with murder at the state level. Three other officers were fired from the Houston Police Department by Chief B.G. Bond, though they faced no criminal charges. A rookie officer present during the assault and drowning served as a key prosecution witness. On October 7, 1977, an all-white jury convicted Denson and Orlando only of negligent homicide, a misdemeanor; the judge sentenced them to one year of probation and a one-dollar fine. The verdict and sentence prompted community protests over the racial composition of the jury and the leniency of the punishment.
The U.S. Department of Justice subsequently reviewed the case at the federal level. In 1978, Denson, Orlando, and fired officer Joseph Janish were convicted of federal civil rights violations and served nine months in prison.
On the first anniversary of Torres' death, a riot broke out at Moody Park in Houston's Near Northside neighborhood on the evening of May 7, 1978, after a Cinco de Mayo celebration attended by an estimated five to six thousand people. Following a disorderly conduct call and arrests by police, the crowd began chanting references to Torres' killing and began throwing bottles and rocks; the unrest escalated into looting and arson at a nearby shopping center and the burning of numerous vehicles, including police cars. Property damage was estimated at $500,000, at least 28 people were taken into custody, and fifteen people, including police officers and two news personnel, were hospitalized; none died from their injuries.
In June 2021, then-Houston police chief Troy Finner apologized to the Torres family, describing the killing as "straight-up murder." In April 2022, the city of Houston unveiled the Joe Campos Torres Memorial Plaza and trail along Buffalo Bayou to commemorate Torres and the case's impact on the community.
José Campos Torres is born.
Torres receives a general discharge from the U.S. Army after training with the Army Rangers at Fort Bragg.
Torres is arrested for disorderly conduct at Club 21 in Houston and beaten by police officers near Buffalo Bayou.
Torres's body is found in Buffalo Bayou three days after his arrest.
Officers Terry W. Denson and Stephen Orlando are convicted of negligent homicide by an all-white jury and sentenced to probation and a one-dollar fine.
Denson, Orlando, and fired officer Joseph Janish are convicted at the federal level of civil rights violations and serve nine months in prison.
The Moody Park Riot breaks out in Houston on the anniversary of Torres's death.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner apologizes to the Torres family, calling the killing 'straight-up murder.'
The city of Houston unveils the Joe Campos Torres Memorial Plaza and trail along Buffalo Bayou.
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
23-year-old Mexican-American Army veteran beaten by police officers and found dead in Buffalo Bayou on May 5, 1977.[3]
Fired Houston police officer later convicted federally of civil rights violations in 1978.[3]
Convicted at the state level of negligent homicide (1977) and later convicted federally of civil rights violations (1978).[3]
Convicted at the state level of negligent homicide (1977) and later convicted federally of civil rights violations (1978).[3]
From the record
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