Without comment, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has rejected the appeal of a Dallas man who created an uproar in September 2013 when he shot an eight year old boy in the face. The court denied an application for a writ of habeas corpus for Brian Cloninger, 55, who is serving a 45 year prison term for injury to a child. He could have received a life sentence
D. J. Maiden Jr. had been sent to find his sister when he met Cloninger, who was sitting in his truck in the apartment complex. Cloninger fired a shot at the child, hitting him in the jaw. The child was critically injured. Because Cloninger is White and the child is Black, Dallas Police investigated the possibility that the shooting was a hate crime, but that was later declared unfounded.
During the trial Cloninger repeatedly insisted he had been drugged and did not remember the shooting. He said his first indication that something was wrong was when police approached him. He testified he had a vague recollection of portions of the event.
“And I jolted up and I heard somebody go uhhh. And I remember reaching for the steering wheel and then everything goes black again.” Cloninger told the court in 2015.
News of the High Court’s decision was welcomed by Latamerin Locklin, D.J.’s mother as “good news.” She says her son has recovered.
“He looks great now. He’s come a long way.” Locklin said.
D. J. is now a junior in high school. Cloninger will not be eligible for parole until 2033.
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