Devonte “DJ” Amerson spoke at a press event last week, saying he is happy Hays County officials have dropped the capital murder charges that have been hanging over his head for the last seven years. But he isn’t pleased that the county dropped the charges “without prejudice” – that is, without promising that they won’t be brought back at a later date.
“I was robbed of all this time, seven years being out here, my family spending money, coming back and forth, resetting court dates – just for y’all to say it’s over?” he told the Chronicle. “I mean, we spent over $140,000 on legal fees. We even had the judge saying we’re ready to go to trial. And y’all are gonna dismiss it a week out before we go? So we’re looking for the dismissal with prejudice. We don’t really want y’all to just say, ‘Forget it,’ and sweep it under the rug like it never happened.”
Amerson spent six years in Hays County Jail after police arrested him and his friend, Cyrus Gray, in March of 2018. They were suspected in the shooting death of Texas State student Justin Gage. The weakness of the evidence against the men became clear when county prosecutors put Gray on trial in 2022. Prosecutors had no eyewitnesses, video, fingerprints, or DNA connecting Gray to the murder. His case was declared a mistrial and the charges against him were dropped in July of 2023.
“I still woke up every day, motivated to make change and create something out of all of this chaos.” – Devonte “DJ” Amerson
Amerson finally made bail in December 2023 and expected the charges against him to be dropped as well. But officials continued preparing for a trial, even after the District Attorney’s Office admitted that it had lost important evidence in the case. The D.A. finally dismissed the charges last week. Assistant D.A. Gregg Cox explained to the Chronicle that the case was dismissed pending further investigation and would be “returned to law enforcement.” He said it could be refiled if additional evidence is found.
Amerson spoke to supporters outside the Hays County Government Center on Tuesday, weeping as he remembered the years he spent separated from his son, who was a newborn at the time of his arrest. He said his case is not just about him but also the men he served time with, who he described as victims of shoddy police work and inattentive attorneys. He shared his response to the humiliation of jail.
“I was treated like less of a man,” he said, his voice breaking. “But I still woke up every day, motivated to make change and create something out of all of this chaos. I refused to be defeated. God has given me the will to stand.”
Cyrus Gray spoke in similarly personal terms, saying that he and Amerson are proof that the criminal justice system fails people every day. He said he knows of others being held unjustly in the Hays County Jail. He remembered sitting in his cell, thinking of his mother and wondering if he’d see her again. “Every step of the way, I was unsure of myself,” he said. “But I kept fighting, because I knew Devonte was on the other side of the jail, still fighting.”
Amerson’s mother, Chelesta, spoke, thanking Pastor Darius Todd, who has housed and comforted her son, and members of the social justice group Mano Amiga, which has brought attention to his case and raised money for his defense. She singled out two of her son’s earliest supporters for special thanks: Sam Benavides and Amy Kamp. (Kamp was an editor at the Chronicle, leaving the newspaper in 2016.)
Kamp was the first person outside of Amerson and Gray’s families to grasp the injustice of the men’s arrests, having attended every day of Gray’s trial. She went on to investigate and write for the Caldwell/Hays Examiner about other potential suspects in Justin Gage’s murder. She has never spoken with Gage’s family, but she says she thought of them as she watched the press conference.
“This was a horrible injustice, obviously, for Cyrus and for DJ, but also for Justin and his family,” Kamp told us. “And so I would say to Justin’s family, if they see the news, just know that the people who are on the other side of this are feeling for you.”
This article appears in May 16 • 2025.
