Bexar DA seeks recusal from activist’s abandonment case
The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office has sought to recuse itself from a case involving a local activist arrested last week after allegedly leaving her children home alone.
Jourdyn Parks, 29, is out on bond after being arrested on a charge of abandoning a child with intent to return, Bexar County Sheriff ’s officials said. She is the founder of Reliable Revolutionaries, a local group of activists that formed in the wake of national protests over the death of George Floyd.
Deputies performing a wellness check at a Northeast Side home a little after noon on Sept. 10 said they discovered two children, ages 8 and 2, peering at them from an upstairs window.
According to reports, the elder child opened the window and told deputies that her mother was at a meeting and would be back soon. Authorities said they were able to enter the home through a back door that had been left partially open.
Around 3 p.m., Parks returned home and was arrested. She told authorities she had gone to get her phone fixed.
District Attorney Joe D. Gonzales said in a statement Wednesday that his office met with Parks “on numerous occasions” prior to her arrest to “establish a dialog on how we handle officer-involved shootings,” and discussed the status of three shootings that have been filed and resolved in the DA’S Office.
“Because of the prior community-based meetings conducted between Ms. Parks and our office and in order to avoid the appearance of any conflict, I am seeking to recuse the District Attorney’s Office from any further involvement with these cases,” Gonzales said in the statement.
“Additionally, because our office represents the Texas Department of Regulatory Service in Children’s Protective Service matters, I have likewise elected to seek a recusal of our office from any involvement regarding the care of her children,” the statement said.
Should the motion to recuse be granted, a prosecutor pro-tempore would be appointed to the case.
Abandoning a child with the intent to return is a state jail felony punishable by up to two years confinement and a $10,000 fine.
Parks is awaiting indictment and has a pre-hearing scheduled before Judge Catherine Torresstahl, presiding judge of the 175th state District Court, on Oct. 20, according to online court records.