A Liberty County man serving a 99-year prison sentence for murder is hoping for a new trial after a district judge determined that evidence was removed from the crime scene before law enforcement arrived and was never disclosed to the defense.
Brandon Lee Jenkins, 38, of Liberty, Texas, was convicted in 2015 in the fatal shooting of Tracy Odell Holmes, the father of Jenkins’ former girlfriend. Jenkins, who has served approximately 11 years of the sentence, is now seeking habeas corpus relief through the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas.
Jenkins is represented by Houston attorney Stanley G. Schneider of Schneider & McKinney, P.C.
Following an evidentiary hearing held April 2, 2026, 75th State District Judge Michelle Merendino signed findings of fact and conclusions of law on May 6 concluding that Holmes’ son, Travis Holmes, removed evidence from his father’s body before police secured the scene. Holmes testified to this fact in court on April 2.
Judge Merendino’s findings state that the removal of evidence was referenced during opening statements by prosecutor Joe Warren but was not disclosed to the defense prior to trial.
During the original murder trial, Warren told jurors that Travis Holmes removed his father’s cell phone from the scene and gave it to his mother. However, the court found no evidence supporting that statement was ever turned over to the defense or introduced during trial.
Jenkins admitted to shooting Holmes but claimed he acted in self-defense after Holmes struck him in the back of the head during an argument.
The court also noted testimony from investigators that if a cell phone was removed from the scene, other items could also have been removed before law enforcement arrived.
In proposed findings filed by Jenkins’ attorneys, the defense alleged Travis Holmes later admitted to removing both a gun and a cell phone from his father’s body. Information about the items removed from the body was brought up in testimony on April 2 by Jonathan Jenkins, who testified that Travis had told him he had removed both a gun and cell phone, which was eventually stolen by his cousin.
Judge Merendino’s findings did not conclude that a gun had been removed, but did state that the undisclosed evidence could have supported Jenkins’ self-defense claim and challenged the State’s theory of the case.
Merendino concluded that Jenkins showed the State suppressed favorable information from the defense, but she did not find prosecutorial misconduct or ineffective assistance of counsel.
The findings, along with recommendations from both the court and Jenkins’ attorneys, will now go before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which will decide at a later date whether Jenkins is entitled to a new trial.