Widow of Exonerated Man Calls Austin's Yogurt Shop Murder Settlement ‘Blood Money’
The widow and daughter of Maurice Pierce — one of four men exonerated earlier this year in the infamous 1991 yogurt shop murders in Austin, Texas — have confirmed they accepted a multimillion-dollar settlement from the city, but they describe the payout as “blood money” and insist their fight isn’t over.
In a new episode of the podcast 48 Hours: Case by Case, correspondent Erin Moriarty — who has covered the case for more than three decades — spoke with Kimberli and Marisa Pierce about the settlement and the years of trauma that preceded it.
“It’s blood money for us. He died for this money,” Kimberli Pierce told Moriarty. “It’s about the reform and the changes that need to happen, not only in Austin, but apparently across the country.”
The Pierces also gave a detailed account of what they believe led to Maurice Pierce’s death at the hands of police in 2010 — a shooting they argue was tied to the same flawed investigation that wrongfully branded him a murderer nearly two decades earlier.
Maurice Pierce was one of four young men — along with Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen and Forrest Welborn — wrongfully accused in the Dec. 6, 1991, killings of four teenage girls: Eliza Thomas, Amy Ayers, and sisters Jennifer and Sarah Harbison. The victims were bound, shot, and left inside a yogurt shop that was set on fire.
In February 2024, investigators exonerated the four men after linking another man, Robert Eugene Brashers, to the crimes. In the wake of that development, the city of Austin offered a $35 million settlement to be split among the four exonerees. Because Maurice Pierce died in 2010, his share of $10 million will go to Kimberli and Marisa.
The case has long been a cautionary tale about the dangers of tunnel vision in police investigations. Eight days after the murders, 16-year-old Maurice Pierce was arrested at a mall carrying a .22 caliber handgun — the same type of weapon used in the killings. Kimberli Pierce said police told her husband the gun was the murder weapon, then wired him to speak with his friend Forrest Welborn. Investigators later determined that Welborn and the others had no knowledge of the crimes, and no charges were filed at that time.
“There was no evidence when my father was questioned — only a detective and a narrative, a narrative so completely false. It feels evil,” Marisa Pierce said.
The case resurfaced in 1999, nearly eight years later, when Scott and Springsteen confessed to the murders. They later recanted, saying they were coerced by police. Both were tried and convicted, but those convictions were overturned on constitutional grounds. Subsequent DNA testing excluded all four men. Maurice Pierce was never convicted but spent three years in jail before his release in 2003.
Kimberli Pierce said her husband returned from prison a hardened man. She said police continued to harass him and their family after his release. In 2010, Maurice Pierce was pulled over during a routine traffic stop, fled on foot, and was shot and killed by an Austin police officer who said Pierce had stabbed him with a knife.
In an emotional new interview, Marisa Pierce revealed she was on the phone with her father during the fatal encounter. She believes he panicked and was simply trying to get away, not to harm anyone. “And in those last moments, he had just said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t think you’re gonna see me again, and I love you,’” she recounted.
48 Hours reached out to the Austin Police Department regarding the Pierces’ allegations of harassment and their questions about the 2010 shooting. The department said it had no additional comment.
For the Pierce family, the settlement is not an end but a beginning. They have proposed seven reforms they hope the City of Austin will adopt, including requiring a child advocate whenever a minor is questioned by police, banning deceptive interrogation tactics, educating juveniles about their legal rights, and establishing accountability measures to prevent tunnel vision in investigations.
“Real justice is not only about acknowledging harm after the fact but about creating safeguards that prevent future families from enduring the same pain,” the Pierces wrote in a statement shared with 48 Hours.