An 11-Year-Old Was Walking Home From School. Until A Marine Veteran Decided To Stab Him To Death.

An 11-year-old was walking home from school when an attacker stabbed him more than 20 times. It took years, but now the child’s family finally has justice.

This month, a judge in Texas sentenced Andre Timothy Jackson, 33, to life in prison for the killing of Josue Flores, 11, in 2016. Jackson is a U.S. Marine veteran, but why he turned to murder remains unclear.

Around 4:45 p.m. on May 17. 2016, Flores was walking home when a neighbor heard him pleading for his life, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

He had been stabbed more than 20 times.

The attacker wore a distinctive green jacket and ran from the scene after the attack. The jacket was found in a room at the Salvation Army where Jackson was living, according to reports.

Jackson was arrested and the jacket was tested for DNA, according to prosecutors. The testing was inconclusive, and the veteran was released.

Three years later, Houston police sent the DNA from the jacket to another lab with better technology. That lab determined the child’s DNA was on the jacket. Jackson was re-arrested — and this time he was not set free.

“This brutal murder of an innocent child in the middle of the day shook our entire community,” District Attorney Kim Ogg said. “People from all walks of life, including those who didn’t know Josue, have experienced a genuine loss because children are our future. We are proud of the prosecutors and police who worked hard over the past six long years to finally bring justice to the Flores family.”

At sentencing, Jackson continued to say he was innocent and he and his lawyers questioned the DNA evidence used to convict him, according to KSAT.

“I can assure you that I'm a man with a beautiful personality... I have traditional Christian Baptist values. I have ethics and morals that I've picked up from the Marine Corps and my own experience in life," Jackson said, according to the station.

But a jury and judge didn’t believe him. Now, the vet will spend the rest of his life behind bars.