On this
date, March 29, 2001, Patrolman Hector Garza was murdered by Frank Garcia. The
Cop killer was executed on October 27, 2011. Unit 1012 honors this fallen
police and thank God that justice was served.
Please go to this blog post
to hear learn more about the case. Let us hear from the fallen cop’s
family members:
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QUOTE 1: Facts of the Crime: On March 29, 2001, in San Antonio, Texas, Garcia
fatally shot two victims, San Antonio Police Officer Hector Garza, 48, and
Jessica Garcia, 21. The incident began as a domestic dispute between Garcia and
Jessica, his wife. Officer Garza, who responded to the disturbance call, was
the first victim. Garcia shot the officer three times, resulting in his death.
Garcia then shot his wife six times resulting in her death. The couple's
five-year-old daughter witnessed both murders. Garcia also shot and wounded the
uncle of his wife during the incident. Garcia was sentenced to death in June
2002.
Garza's
family, in a statement through the San Antonio Police Department, said they
didn't see the punishment as a cause for celebration.
"Hector
would be deeply saddened by the loss of another life,"
they said, calling the execution "a very necessary
reminder that the citizens of this great state will not tolerate the murder of
a Texas peace officer and the death penalty imposed must send a loud and clear
message to those who would commit such an act."
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QUOTE 2: Summary: On the morning of March 29, 2001, Frank Garcia
fatally shot uniformed San Antonio Police Officer Hector Garza and Garcia's
wife Jessica inside the home Garcia shared with Jessica, their children, and
Garcia's parents. After subsequently firing several shots at others outside the
Garcia residence, wounding one person, and causing damage to a nearby
elementary school, Garcia surrendered to police and gave a formal, written
statement in which he admitted to intentionally killing both officer Garza and
Jessica. The guilt-innocence phase of Garcia's capital murder trial commenced
on February 4, 2002. In addition to the testimony summarized above, Garcia's
jury also heard testimony from forensic and firearms experts regarding (1) the
MAC-10 semi-automatic weapon and the Egyptian-made AK-47 assault rifle Garcia
used to shoot Officer Garza and Jessica, (2) ballistics evidence about the
shell casings and bullet fragments found at the crime scene, and (3) testimony
regarding the blood, blood spatter, and other trace evidence recovered from the
crime scene and Garcia's clothing. The foregoing testimony corroborated those
portions of Garcia's written statement in which he admitted to having emptied
both the semi-automatic pistol and assault rifle following his fatal shooting
of Officer Garza and Jessica. The defense presented no witnesses or other
evidence during the guilt-innocence phase of Garcia's capital murder trial. On
February 8, 2002, after deliberating less than three hours, Garcia's jury
returned a verdict of guilty. The autopsy of Officer Garza revealed (1)
he died as a result of four gun shot wounds, each of which would have been
fatal alone, (2) the four shots struck Garza, respectively, in the head, two in
the back of the neck, and one in the abdomen, which penetrated the lungs and
aorta, (3) the shot through Garza's chest was likely the first to strike him,
(4) the shots to Garza's chest and head came from a non-high-velocity weapon,
and (5) the two shots which struck Garza in the neck came from a high velocity weapon,
exited through the skull, and caused massive damage to the brain and cranial
vault. The autopsy performed on the body of Jessica Garcia revealed (1) she
died as a result of three gunshot wounds, only one of which would have been
fatal alone, (2) the fatal gunshot struck Jessica in the left forehead,
fractured her orbital area, and penetrated through the midbrain, (3) the two,
non-fatal shots struck her in the right cheek and her chin, (4) all the
gunshots which struck Jessica came from a non-high-velocity weapon, and (5) the
latter two gunshot wounds likely struck Jessica while she was down on the
floor. Several witnesses testified to having personally witnessed Garcia firing
two different weapons at persons located outside the Garcia residence on the
morning of the fatal shootings. A friend of Jessica testified (1) an emotional
Jessica called her on the morning of the fatal shootings and asked her to help
Jessica move out, (2) after securing assistance from John and Rosario Luna, she
rode with the Lunas to Jessica's residence, (3) Garcia's mother interfered with
their efforts to help Jessica remove clothing and other personal items from the
Garcia residence, (4) she overheard Jessica telling Garcia over the phone that
Jessica was leaving him, (5) Garcia arrived at the Garcia home before the
police and Garcia grabbed Jessica in a head lock and dragged her back inside
the Garcia home, (6) moments later a police officer walked inside the Garcia
home, (7) a few minutes after the officer entered the house, she heard
three-to-four shots in rapid succession come from inside the house, (8) after a
pause, she heard a second series of approximately three shots come from inside
the house, (9) Garcia then emerged from the house, pointed a firearm, and fired
several shots, at least a few of which struck their vehicle, (10) Garcia fired
at her and John Luna as they attempted to flee the scene toward a nearby
elementary school, (11) Garcia went back inside the house and she heard several
more shots, (12) Garcia emerged from the house a second time holding a big
rifle and fired that weapon, striking the truck behind which she was hiding,
i.e., the same truck Garcia had driven to the scene, and (13) she saw Garcia
chasing after John Luna as she fled for the safety of the school. The
then-vice-principal of the nearby Emma Frey Elementary School testified (1) she
noticed a police vehicle in front of the Garcia residence when she arrived at
school around 7:30 that morning, (2) she later noticed the police vehicle was
gone when she saw Jessica outside the Garcia residence between 8:45 and 8:50,
(3) around nine a.m. she was alerted to a problem by other staff, (4) as she
exited the campus building near the Garcia residence, she saw a man later
identified for her as John Luna running toward her who was yelling "Get
out of here. He's shooting at everyone," (5) she looked toward the Garcia
residence and saw a man in the yard holding a rifle, who then pointed it at her
or in her direction, (6) as she and Luna attempted to flee away from the Garcia
residence, she heard four shots, (7) the school custodian let her and Luna
inside the school, (8) once inside the school, she climbed to the second floor,
ordered the school locked down, telephoned school district police, and looked
out and saw Garcia with the rifle in the front yard of the Garcia residence
walking away from the school, and (9) subsequent examination of the school's
exterior disclosed several indentations in the front doors, as well as a hole
in a window screen that had not been present before the shootings. The San
Antonio Police Officer who arrested Garcia testified (1) he knocked repeatedly
and announced himself before entering the Garcia residence, (2) he heard a box
of bullets hit the floor and footsteps running his direction, (3) he heard a
rifle racking and smelled gunpowder and blood, (4) Garcia came out and pointed
an assault rifle at him, (5) when Garcia saw the officer's weapon, Garcia
retreated, shouted "I give up," and threw down his rifle, and (6)
Garcia thereafter offered no resistance. In his five-page, formal, written
statement executed only hours after the fatal shootings, Garcia admits he
deliberately fired at officer Garza's head multiple times and then turned his
weapon on his wife.
The San
Antonio Police Department said in a statement on behalf of Garza's family that
the officer was a devoted husband and father committed to protecting his
community.
"Though
the execution does not bring complete closure to Hector's family, as we all
miss him dearly, it comforts us to know that Frank Garcia will never destroy
another family," the statement said.
AUTHOR: Officer Hector Garza’s family – Officer Hector
Garza and Jessica Garcia was murdered by Frank Garcia in San Antonio, Texas on March
29, 2001. Frank Garcia was executed by lethal injection on Thursday October 27,
2011.
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