Austin yogurt shop murders
Also known as: Yogurt shop murders
- Active
- 1991–1991
- Region
- Austin, Texas, USA
- Kind
- Mass
- Status
- Identified, never tried
- Victims
- 4
On the night of December 6, 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 North Austin, and the shop was set on fire. Four teenagers were later arrested and two were convicted on confessions they said were coerced; those convictions were overturned, both men were freed in 2009, and all four were declared innocent in 2026. In September 2025 Austin police identified Robert Eugene Brashers, through a ballistics match and DNA retesting, as the killer. Brashers, who has also been linked by DNA to killings in South Carolina and Missouri, died in 1999, so he was never tried.
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Victims
We remember the people whose lives were taken.
- Amy Ayers, 13 · December 6, 1991
A friend of the Harbison sisters, visiting the shop that night.
- Eliza Thomas, 17 · December 6, 1991
Worked at the shop and was closing up that night.
- Jennifer Harbison, 17 · December 6, 1991
Worked at the shop; Sarah's older sister.
- Sarah Harbison, 15 · December 6, 1991
Was at the shop with her sister and their friend Amy.
Timeline of locations
- December 6, 1991I Can't Believe It's Yogurt! shop near Northcross Mall (Crime scene, approximate area)
The four girls were killed in the shop, a strip-center store near Northcross Mall in North Austin, and the building was set on fire.
- 1999Kennett, Missouri (Brashers' death) (Other, approximate area)
Brashers shot himself during an hours-long police standoff at a motel in Kennett, Missouri, in 1999. He was not linked to the Austin murders until decades later.
- September 29, 2025Austin City Hall (Other)
At a news conference at City Hall, Police Chief Lisa Davis and Det. Dan Jackson laid out how a shell-casing match and DNA from Amy Ayers' fingernail clippings identified Brashers.
- February 19, 2026Travis County court (Austin) (Court / trial, approximate area)
The two convictions from 1999 trials in Travis County were overturned in 2006. On February 19, 2026, a Travis County judge declared all four wrongly accused men innocent.
Watch, listen, read
Watch
- The Yogurt Shop Murders (series, 2025, Margaret Brown (HBO))
Read
- Who Killed These Girls? Cold Case: The Yogurt Shop Murders (2016, Beverly Lowry)
Active at the same time, nearby
- Ángel Maturino Reséndiz · both active in 1991, 127 km apart · map both
A coincidence of time and place, not a connection. All overlaps
Sources
- Austin police link 1991 yogurt shop murders to Robert Eugene Brashers (KUT)
- DNA evidence links dead man to 1991 killings of 4 girls in Texas 'Yogurt Shop Murders' (NBC News)
- Four men accused in Austin's yogurt shop murders have been exonerated (Texas Public Radio)
- What to know about the new suspect identified in Texas' infamous yogurt shop killings (AP via KSAT)
Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.