Q and A with 38th Judicial District Attorney Christina Mitchell

By- Michael Robinson

On Tuesday, May 23rd, The Uvalde Hesperian sent an email to 38th District Attorney Christina Mitchell with questions about the investigation and release of information pertaining to the Robb School Tragedy.

Below are the Uvalde Hesperian questions sent to 38th Judicial District Attorney  Christina Mitchell and her responses.

 Uvalde Hesperian:  Will you be releasing any information to the media and the public this week regarding any information pertaining to the Robb School Tragedy?  

 District Attorney Mitchell: “I will be issuing a statement later on today or tomorrow regarding the status of the investigation.  I have been responding to emails from the press as best I can; but they are numerous.  I had originally not wanted to issue a separate statement outside of the one issued by all of the community leaders so as to keep the focus this week on the healing and grieving of the families and our whole community, who is still in anguish.  I have previously briefed the families so they are aware of the status of the investigation. “

Uvalde Hesperian: You had stated back near the end of 2022 you would need another 6 months for your pending investigation before investigation details would be disclosed by your office.

With all due respect, it has been 6 months.

District Attorney Mitchell: “An investigation of this magnitude should be expected to take over a year.  A regular murder case (if there is such a thing) normally takes about a year before I receive the investigative report.  I was cautiously optimistic that I would receive the DPS Texas Rangers’ investigative report by the one year mark of the Robb Elementary mass shooting based on the timeline expressed by DPS from the Austin office.  However, when I did not receive it, I was not surprised.  (Just by way of example, this morning I received an offense report on a smuggling case that happened over a year ago.   Our law enforcement is extremely busy especially given the amount of smuggling cases we are all receiving in south Texas.)  I want the Texas Rangers’ to submit a complete investigation, that is thorough and deliberate, and because of that it should not be surprising that it has taken over a year. “

  Uvalde Hesperian: Are you available for an interview with the media? Will you be holding a press conference this week? 

  District Attorney Mitchell:   “I will not be holding a press conference.  I am ethically prohibited from discussing an ongoing criminal investigation in the media.  I am limited as to what I can say. “