Texas Justice

Yesterday, a Lavaca County grand jury declined to indict a 23-year-old father in the death of Jesus Mora Flores.

The young Texas rancher beat Flores to death with his fists when he caught the man molesting his 5-year-old daughter.

Prosecutors said the grand jury reached same conclusion as police after reviewing the evidence: The father was legally entitled to use deadly force to protect his daughter.

The attack happened on the family's ranch off a quiet, two-lane county road between the farming towns of Shiner and Yoakum. Authorities say a witness saw Flores "forcibly carrying" the girl into a secluded area and then scrambled to find the father. Running toward his daughter's screams, investigators said, the father pulled Flores off his child and "inflicted several blows to the man's head and neck area."

Emergency crews found Flores' pants and underwear pulled down on his lifeless body by the time they responded to the 911 call. The girl was taken to a hospital and examined, and authorities say forensic evidence and witness accounts corroborated the father's story that his daughter was being sexually molested.

After the Grand Jury report, one  resident summed up the opinion of Shiner, of Texas, and fathers in general when he said "You know, I think justice is served. It's sad a man had to die, but I think anybody would have done that."