***Edited to update: Thanks to the hard work of the community, Cyrus is currently out on bond. The DA responsible for bringing the indictment against Cyrus and DJ did not run for reelection, and the original prosecutor on the case, Ralph Guerrero, left his position after the newly elected DA, Kelly Higgins, took office at the beginning of this year. While these developments are encouraging, and we are so grateful that Cyrus is out in jail and working to help others, unfortunately DJ is still in jail. As of March, it has been five years, an unconscionably long time to hold any innocent person, but especially the parent of a young child. We're leaving the original text of the petition below for accountability, and we continue to demand that the charges be dropped and the investigation reopened. Thank you!***

Since March of 2018, Cyrus Gray and DeVonte “DJ” Amerson have been incarcerated in the Hays County Jail without having been convicted of any crime. Cyrus and DJ have both been charged with the murder of Justin Gage, a Texas State student who was killed in 2015, despite a crucial lack of evidence they committed the crime. The state can offer no DNA, no eyewitnesses who could ID Gray or Amerson, no fingerprints, no connection between the defendants and the victim, no murder weapon, and no plausible motive.

We believe Cyrus and DJ have been wrongfully accused of this heinous crime, and are themselves victims of a rush to judgment. Prosecutor Ralph Guerrero has thus far refused to listen to calls from the community to dismiss these baseless charges. Instead of focusing on convicting Cyrus and DJ at all costs, we call on Hays County to drop the charges against them, and to reopen the investigation and do the due diligence of pursuing all valid leads.