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Dallas Police Sergeant Fired For Keeping Quiet For 18 Months About Murder Suspect

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Dallas Police Chief David Brown has fired a sergeant for keeping quiet about a murder suspect.

Police say that Sgt. Carlton Barnes failed to give homicide detectives information from a capital murder case in September 2011 after he recognized the suspect as a former classmate. 

Internal Affairs detectives determined that Barnes didn’t say anything to homicide investigators about the identity of the suspect until this past March, a year and a half later.  Barnes is also charged with tampering with a governmental record.

Barnes may appeal his dismissal.

Former KERA reporter BJ Austin spent more than 25 years in broadcast journalism, anchoring and reporting in Atlanta, New York, New Orleans and Dallas. Along the way, she covered Atlanta City Hall, the Georgia Legislature and the corruption trials of Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards.