Parents continue pursuing justice after grand jury no bills daughter's sex assault case

The parents of a teenage girl reportedly lured from a Dallas Mavericks game who ended up the victim of sex trafficking spoke out after a Dallas County grand jury decided not to indict the suspect.

Kyle and Brooke Morris spoke with NBC 5 from their North Richland Hills home. The couple has chosen to speak publicly but asked NBC 5 not to identify their daughter, which is also station policy. NBC 5 is also not naming the suspect since he was ‘No Billed,’ but he has a previous arrest out of Harris County, where he lives, for prostitution of a minor.

The Morrises spoke candidly about their daughter’s journey toward healing and the devastating blows in their search for justice.

“She is surviving,” said Brooke of her daughter’s condition. “She is the strongest person I know. She’s smart, beautiful, intelligent and she is not of the victim mindset.”

This fall, a Dallas County grand jury declined to indict the man on a sexual assault of a child charge.

Her parents said he drugged and sexually assaulted their daughter after luring the 15-year-old from American Airlines Center last April.

Her family continues to voice their disappointment in how the ‘missing person’ case was initially handled by law enforcement.

Police found the girl in Oklahoma City more than a week after she disappeared in Dallas and determined she had been repeatedly forced into prostitution.

The case led to several arrests and convictions in Oklahoma.

“This individual that Dallas ‘No Billed’ is likely still in Dallas and knows exactly who took her to Oklahoma to be sold and traded further,” said Brooke. “That’s very hard to stomach, not just for my daughter … I’m worried about the next victim.”

The family and their attorney Zeke Fortenberry are expressing concern over the case presented to the grand jury by a a Dallas County prosecutor.

“We want the people to know that the grand jury didn’t get all the evidence,” said Fortenberry, who is a former prosecutor. “We know they didn’t get her therapy records which have numerous outcries and disclosures.”

Kyle Morris said the prosecutor did not substantially interview his daughter about what she said happened to her.

“[The prosecutor] met her, talked to her for 15-30 minutes maybe, just kind of ‘get to know you’ and she said they would have another meeting before the grand jury and that never happened,” he said.

Fortenberry said they offered new evidence in the case but the offer was declined.

Following the deliberations and the decision, the family and Fortenberry took their concerns to Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot, hoping his office would try to bring the case back to another grand jury with the additional information or that his office seek trafficking charges against the man.

“Despite the evidence they turned a blind eye to, rejected, they told us yesterday the case is closed on their end,” said Kyle.

NBC 5 asked Creuzot’s office about the family’s assertions. Creuzot released the following statement:

“Following the grand jury’s decision, we met with the family and Mr. Fortenberry to hear and review their concerns. Since that meeting, this office reviewed all of the evidence that was presented to the grand jury and we are confident that any possible criminal offenses were presented. By law, the grand jury deliberates in secret. Per office policy, we did not make a recommendation to the grand jury, and we will respect their decision.”

The Morrises said they respected the grand jury’s decision but objected to the case they were presented with.

“For a grand jury to make a decision based on only part of the story or not being shown everything, I think is an injustice not just to my daughter, not just to other potential victims, but also that jury,” said mom. “This [also] falls into that dark hole of victims that are not believed: I was raped. I was taken. I was trafficked when law enforcement would see this as a runaway.”

The Morrises said they are not giving up.

“I’m worried about the next victim at the next baseball game, football game, whatever it may be,” she said. “I’m worried about that victim because if we as a state, as a county, as an area are simply saying: Well if the facts don’t line up and the jury says it’s a ‘No Bill,’ we’re just going to leave it. What is that further saying to traffickers?”

Their attorney is reaching out to federal law enforcement officials, seeking federal charges in the case that crossed state lines.

The family is also considering civil action against several agencies involved in the case.

The couple's resilient daughter, they said, has come a long way since April 2022 thanks to therapy.

“She’s learning to value herself because a lot of that was stripped from her,” said Kyle.