DA to seek death penalty

By John Lowman
The Facts
Published April 1, 2009

ANGLETON — Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the man accused of the Feb. 2 kidnapping, robbery and slaying of a Pearland store clerk.

A two-count capital murder indictment handed up by a Brazoria County grand jury Tuesday accuses Nicholas-Michael Jean, 21, of Pearland of killing Susana DeJesus by shooting her while in the course of a robbery. The second count accuses Jean of killing DeJesus during a kidnapping.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt, but a determination enough evidence exists to proceed to trial.

Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne would only quote from the indictment and declined to expound on the case.

“The allegations are he did intentionally cause the death of Susana DeJesus by shooting her with a firearm,” she said. “He did so in the course of committing robbery or in the course of committing kidnapping. We filed capital murder here (in Brazoria County). This is the highest crime in the state, and we will be seeking the death penalty.”

The last capital murder conviction in Brazoria County was in April 2007 when John Joe Bodley was convicted of the Freeport shooting deaths of two people. Yenne agreed to a life sentence after Bodley waived his right to appeal.

The last Brazoria County person put to death after a capital murder conviction was Virgil Martinez, who was convicted in 1998 of killing four people in a trailer home outside Alvin. He was given a lethal injection Jan. 28 in Huntsville.

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