Austin Poised to Pay $35M for 1991 Case

Austin officials said on May 12 they reached a tentative $35 million settlement with three men and the family of a fourth who were wrongly accused in the 1991 yogurt shop murders, one of the city’s most notorious unsolved crimes. The proposed payment would go to Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott, Forrest Welborn and the family of Maurice Pierce, who died in 2010, according to City Manager T.C. Broadnax and local news reports. The agreement came less than three months after a Travis County judge declared the four men actually innocent on February 19. Austin police said in September 2025 that new DNA and ballistic evidence pointed instead to Robert Eugene Brashers, who died in 1999. ### Who is supposed to get the money? The $35 million would be split among Springsteen, Scott, Welborn and Pierce’s family under the tentative deal announced by the city on May 12. Broadnax said Austin had reached an agreement with the men who were wrongly accused and wrongly convicted in the case, according to KUT and the Associated Press. (kut.org) Maurice Pierce died in 2010, so his share would go to his family. KUT reported that Pierce had been held for years on a charge tied to the case before he was released from the Travis County Jail in 2003. ### Why does this case go back to 1991? In December 1991, four teenage girls — Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas, and sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison — were killed at an I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt shop in Austin. (kut.org) The case gripped the city for decades and led to multiple prosecutions that later unraveled. In 1999, Scott and Springsteen were convicted of murder, while Welborn and Pierce also faced accusations connected to the killings. (kut.org) The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals later threw out the convictions, and other charges were dropped or dismissed over time, according to KUT and AP. ### What changed in 2025 and 2026? Austin police said on September 29, 2025, that new testing had identified Robert Eugene Brashers as a suspect in the killings. (kut.org) The department said DNA work and ballistic evidence tied Brashers to the crime; Brashers had died by suicide in Missouri in 1999. On February 19, 2026, a Travis County judge declared Springsteen, Scott, Welborn and Pierce actually innocent. (kut.org) District Attorney José Garza stood with the men after the hearing, and KUT reported that Michael Scott told the court he had carried the burden of a wrongful conviction for decades. ### How unusual is a $35 million payout for Austin? The $35 million figure would rank as one of the largest settlements Austin has agreed to pay, according to local reports. (austintexas.gov) KXAN and other outlets reported that city officials expected the deal to require council approval before money is paid out. Tony Diaz, who has represented Scott since 1999, told KUT the agreement moved faster than he expected. (kut.org) Diaz also said the settlement includes changes to police practices, including a ban on unsupervised interrogations of underage suspects, a provision he said the Innocence Project of Texas pushed. ### When will Austin officials take the next step? (kxan.com) Austin City Council’s online calendar shows its next regular meeting is set for May 28, 2026, and the draft agenda was posted on May 15. The city’s work-session page also shows council is scheduled to meet on May 19 before that regular session. The council meeting portal is where Austin posts agendas and backup documents for votes, minutes and related records. (kut.org) As of May 16, the city clerk’s site showed the May 28 regular meeting agenda page live but did not, in the material reviewed here, spell out a yogurt-shop settlement item by name. (austintexas.gov) (austintexas.gov)