A billboard of the victims in the yogurt shop murders, which occurred in 1991 in Austin, Texas.
Courtesy of HBO
Nearly eight months after new DNA evidence linked a serial killer to Austin’s infamous Yogurt Shop Murders cold case, the City of Austin is poised to pay millions to three men and the family of a fourth previously accused of the crimes.
On Tuesday, May 12, the City of Austin confirmed to MySA it had reached an agreement with Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott, Forrest Welborn and Maurice Pierce’s family. Tony Díaz, an Austin attorney representing Scott, confirmed to MySA that the settlement amounts to $35 million and will be divided among the three living exonerees and Pierce’s family.
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Data compiled by the National Police Funding Database — a project affiliated with the Legal Defense Fund and the Thurgood Marshall Institute — suggests the $35 million settlement to the exonerees is the largest in the City of Austin’s history. That database collected evidence of at least $73 million paid by the city in various settlements between 2013 and 2022; second to this latest settlement, the largest settlement previously authorized by the city was a combined $10 million agreement made in 2022 with Justin Howell and Anthony Evans. The two were injured during 2020 protests following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the fatal officer-involved shooting of Michael Ramos in Austin.
“This settlement closes the final chapter of a devastating story in Austin’s history. For 34 years, our community sought answers to this senseless and heartbreaking crime, and, thanks to the dedicated commitment of the Austin Police Department, we delivered those answers in September 2025,” Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax said in a statement to MySA. “We are pleased to have reached an agreement with those who were wrongly accused and wrongly convicted in this case and hope that this settlement brings a sense of closure to everyone affected by this horrific event.”
Background on the Yogurt Shop Murders
On December 6, 1991, emergency personnel responded to a fire at the I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt! shop in North Austin. Inside, they discovered the bodies of four teenagers: 13-year-old Amy Ayers, 17-year-old Jennifer Harbison, her 15-year-old sister Sarah and 17-year-old Eliza Thomas. All of the victims had been shot in the head and at least three of them had been sexually assaulted.
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After years of police identifying a series of potential suspects, four teenagers at the time of the attack were suspected of the crime: Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott, Maurice Pierce and Forrest Welborn. Scott and Springsteen were each arrested in 1999 and went to trial in 2001 and 2002, respectively; both were convicted of capital murder, with Springsteen initially sentenced to death and Scott to life imprisonment. Gov. Rick Perry later commuted Springsteen’s sentence to life in prison in 2005, given the fact he was 17 at the time of the crime.
Twenty years ago, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned both Scott and Springsteen’s cases in 2006, according to Travis County District Attorney court records. That overturn came after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals determined the statements of one defendant were used against the other defendant, violating their constitutional rights.
Those cases were each sent back to Travis County to be retried, paving the way for further evaluation into the convictions and the suspected killers. New DNA testing uncovered in 2008 excluded all four suspects linked to the murders, with both Scott and Springsteen’s cases dismissed following a decade of incarceration.
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DNA links serial killer to quadruple homicide
In late September 2025, Austin city officials and law enforcement revealed DNA evidence collected at the 1991 crime scene linked Robert Eugene Brashers, a convicted serial killer, to the quadruple homicide. Brashers had been arrested in December 1985 for attempted murder and aggravated battery in Florida; he was sentenced to 12 years in prison but was granted parole in May 1989.
Brashers died by suicide during a police standoff in January 1999 and had a lengthy criminal history, including both his convictions as well as a series of suspected murders, sexual assaults and hostage taking. DNA sampling taken from Brashers’ exhumed body confirmed further links to multiple unsolved murders and sexual assault, law enforcement officials confirmed in September 2025.
Alongside DNA evidence, law enforcement discovered strong parallels between the Yogurt Shop Murders crime scene and others linked to Brashers, including the manner of their deaths and the use of clothing to tie victims.
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Four men exonerated after convictions, accusations in Yogurt Shop Murders
In February 2026, a Travis County judge exonerated all four men wrongfully accused of the Yogurt Shop Murders, including Pierce posthumously, after he was killed during an altercation with police in December 2010.
“It is my sincere hope that the proceedings that have taken place today will bring long-awaited closure to every person who has been affected by the yogurt shop murders,” Travis County District Attorney José Garza said in a February statement, adding, “On behalf of the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, I am sorry. I hope that this process and any process that comes after affords you peace and freedom.”