Man Murdered in Lubbock Has Ties to Midland
By: Jackie Smith
Updated: December 20, 2010
52 year old Brian Brinson.
But he has an interesting history.
In 1989, he was sentenced to twenty years in prison for killing an 8 year old in Oregon.
Then he lived in Midland for brief period of time, before moving to Lubbock.
Lubbock Police are now searching for suspects.
Criminal records show that back in 1989 Brinson was sentenced to twenty years in an Oregon prison for beating an 8-year old to death.
He was part of a fanatical cult known as the Ecclesia Athletic Association, that promised to better the lives of inner city kids by showing them tough love.
But one neighbor I spoke to in the Midland Area says this is the past Brinson was trying to escape.
Slumped over and unresponsive is how Lubbock police found Brian Brinson.
"EMS did determine that the individual was in fact deceased."
The 52 year old 1995 Mercedes Benz was parked along 24th place in Lubbock.
Inside, he was shot to death. .
Brinson's death is still a mystery but what we do know is that Brinson has a controversial past that he was trying to leave behind.
"Brian was someone who really was out to get his life back together," said an Anonymous Neighbor.
His neighbor who did not want to be identified paints a different portrait of Brinson than what his criminal record shows.
"My family, we followed him through a lot that happened in Portland, and to this day we supported him."
He says Brinson lived in this Midland neighborhood for about 4 months last year in an RV behind someones home.
When I asked about what he thought about Brinsons past crimes he didn't want to comment.
"I don't really want to go into the past because thats what he wanted to leave behind him."
What he does believe is that Brinson didn't deserve to be murdered.
"There is never a justification for killing anybody."
And to some, Brinson will be missed.
"A lot of people are going to miss him, might they not agree on his view on a couple of things, from economic reasons or whatever, he was still an interesting person."
After Brinson's stint in an Oregon prison, from which he was released early, he was arrested again in 2001 for sexually abusing a 14-year old boy.
Brinson had been out of prison for year before he was found dead.


