page_title: Death of Gabriel Granillo
section_title: The stabbing and immediate aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Death of Gabriel Granillo / The stabbing and immediate aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: Ervan Chew Park Español: Parque Ervan Chew
context_page_description: On June 6, 2006, a teenage boy named Gabriel Granillo was stabbed to death at Ervan Chew Park, in the Neartown district in Houston, Texas. His killer, Ashley Paige Benton, underwent a criminal murder trial which resulted in a hung jury. Benton's lawyers and the assistant Harris County district attorney agreed to give Benton probation in exchange for Benton pleading guilty to aggravated assault. Her probation was ended early in 2009, and her criminal charge was to be dismissed as part of terms of successfully completing her probation.
  In 2008 Skip Hollandsworth of Texas Monthly referred to Benton as "Houston’s most famous teenage killer" and stated that the fact that the stabbing took place in the central city, and the fact that Ashley Benton was a white, Anglo teenage girl involved in gangs shocked Houstonians. The Houston Press wrote that the resulting murder trial "fascinated Houston". In 2014 Andy Warren of the Houston Chronicle listed the Granillo stabbing among the "infamous crimes in the Houston area". A 2011 novel, The Knife and the Butterfly, is based upon the incident.
context_section_description: According to Hollandsworth, the reason behind the fight between MS-13 and Crazy Crew was that a Crazy Crew member had allegedly harassed the cousin of an MS-13 member.
  The Montrose area and Lamar High School were considered to be Crazy Crew's territory. MS-13 appeared at Lamar High School in order to intimidate Crazy Crew, but Houston Independent School District (HISD) police asked MS-13 members to leave. Eyder Peralta and Claudia Feldman of the Houston Chronicle wrote that if HISD police had called the Houston Police Department (HPD), "it's possible the stabbing could have been prevented." The members of the two gangs met at a CVS pharmacy and chased each other around before they stopped at Ervan Chew Park, located in the Neartown district, in proximity to Montrose. The park, previously known as Dunlavy Park, was by 2006 cleaned of drugs and crime due to rehabilitation efforts; it became popular with area families as the surrounding neighborhood gentrified. That year the Houston Chronicle stated that Chew Park was "better known for Little League games and dog parties".
  Members of the two gangs fought one another, with numbers totaling around 20-30; the number of Crazy Crew to MS-13 was about 2 to 1. Benton later stated that she felt threatened by a person who was coming towards her, while MS-13 gang members said that Granillo was turning away from her. Benton stabbed Granillo with a double-bladed knife, killing him. The 5.5-inch (140 mm) blade punctured Granillo's heart, traveling at an upward angle below the sternum. Granillo was declared dead at the park.
  Avelardo Valdez, a University of Houston professor of social work, stated "It's very unusual for a woman to be involved in this kind of violent gang confrontation." McShane and Hsieh noted that this case, along with that of Elisabeth Mandala, was an example of a teenage girl who ended up in "statistical groups" atypical for that sex and age group and more typical for juvenile males, due to "perhaps bad choices" and "unpredictable behavior" despite Benton having normalcy "in so many ways".
  At Chew Park HPD officers took the people with Granillo to question them. Police obtained a confession from Benton at her residence. One of Benton's lawyers stated that the confession was illegal since Benton was questioned without her mother. No lawyers were present during the confession. The girl was arrested at that residence.
  John Cannon, a spokesperson for HPD, described the Ervan Chew area as "relatively low-crime" and that his patrols "were surprised" by the incident. Sue Lovell, a member of the Houston City Council who represented the area, and someone who knew Benton, described it as "an isolated incident". Rich Wilson, an HPD sergeant operating from the Neartown Storefront, told residents that the stabbing was an "isolated gang activity" and that the park is safe and surveilled. The Neartown Association president, Allen Ueckert, stated that the community was "on heightened alert". Immediately after the stabbing the usage of the park declined.
  The following Saturday HPD arrested an MS-13 member attempting to create a memorial at the site of Granillo's death, citing graffiti as the reason.
caption: Ervan Chew Park, the site of Granillo's death
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