Austin yogurt shop murders: Wrongly accused suspect pushes for Austin police reforms

AUSTIN, Texas - One of the men wrongly accused in one of Austin’s most notorious murder cases is now pushing for reforms for the Austin Police Department.

On Tuesday, the City of Austin announced that it had reached a tentative agreement with the former suspects in the Austin yogurt shop murders. The proposed settlement is set at $35 million.

The backstory:

"$35 million cannot repair or make whole the damage that was done to these young men and their families," says Tony Diaz, the attorney for Michael Scott.

Scott was one of four men who were wrongly accused of taking part in the gruesome attack. For Scott, the case subverted him to harsh public scrutiny and even led to him receiving a life sentence, for which he served several years. 

It all began in 1991, when Scott and the other initial suspects were brought in for interrogations directly following the yogurt shop murders. Scott was 17 at the time and had no parents present at the time of questioning.

"That should not have ever happened. You should not be able to interrogate children that are minors without their parents around. There ought to be strict protocols for that," Diaz told FOX 7.

Scott would go on to be released, but in 1999, the Yogurt Shop Task revisited the case and called four individuals back in for questioning: Maurice Pierce, Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott, and Forrest Welborn. 

Scott was subjected to an interrogation lasting 18 hours. Diaz says he was the subject of psychological torment from detectives, with video showing what appeared to be a gun pointed at his head.

"It didn't look like maybe, there was. I've never heard nor seen of a situation where an officer takes a weapon into an interrogation," says Diaz.

Springsteen and Scott would go on to confess, implicating each other. Scott was convicted and received life without parole, while Springsteen was convicted and received the death penalty. Pierce's and Welborn's charges were eventually dropped or not indicted. 

Critically, no physical evidence at the scene ever linked any of the four suspects to the crime.

Dig deeper:

In 2008, when new DNA testing excluded all four suspects, the Travis County District Attorney’s office dismissed Scott and Springsteen’s cases pending further investigation after they had spent 10 years incarcerated.   

In 2025, through DNA and forensic analysis, police identified Robert Eugene Brashers as the man responsible for the Austin yogurt shop murders.

In February 2026, Scott, Pierce, Springsteen and Welborn were formally exonerated in a hearing before Travis County 167th District Judge Dayna Blazey.

"So, then justice was had on that day. And then there's a follow-up to justice, and that is responsibility," says Diaz.

That responsibility came in the form of the $35 million agreement that is currently on the table by the City of Austin. But for Scott, it’s never been about receiving a payout.

"Mike Scott's principal goal here has not been money. It has been to try to seek reform so that this won't ever happen to anybody again," says Diaz. 

As a part of the settlement, Diaz and Scott are pushing for changes to APD’s policing procedures, specifically how police can interact with minors during unsupervised interrogations.

Scott also wishes to spread awareness about the dangers of forced confessions, which led to him and three men being falsely accused, for decades.

"You know, he really doesn't talk about the money. He talks about maybe speaking to groups to help them understand that people can be convicted wrongfully, that people can make confessions wrongfully through coercion," Diaz said.

Even after 26 years, Diaz says that Scott isn’t bitter about the years lost but understands what went wrong and what needs to be fixed.

"It's hard for me to understand, because I get angry. It's hard for me not to cry and become incensed, but Mike, he doesn't do that. It's amazing, actually. His heart's full of love. It’s shortened my life. I know it's shortened his. We're going to reduce the chance that this happens to anybody else," said Diaz.

What's next:

Diaz told FOX 7 that he can’t share the details of the ongoing negotiation with the City but says they have been "open and transparent" in making potential changes to APD’s investigative process.

Diaz says that Scott will now apply for an expunction, which would wipe away any criminal records that were associated with him as a result of the yogurt shop murders.