An investigation into the death of a staffer for U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, pictured above, is reportedly winding down without criminal charges being filed. Credit: Facebook / Tony Gonzales
Uvalde officials now say the police investigation into the death of a congressional aide for U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, who represents San Antonio’s far West Side, is expected to wrap up with no charges filed, according to the Express-News.
Even so, Uvalde authorities are still demanding that official police reports and other public records about the case remain sealed and out of public view, the daily reports.
Earlier this week, the Express-News reported that Uvalde City Attorney Francisco J. Garza sent a letter to the Texas Attorney General’s office requesting that all documents about the death of Regina Santos-Aviles, 35, not be released to the daily and other news outlets.
Garza wrote that the investigation into the Sept. 14 death of Santos-Aviles — Gonzales’ regional district director — was “pending possible criminal prosecution.” Shortly after her death, British tabloid The Daily Mail reported in a story built around unnamed sources that Gonzales, a married Republican with six children, and Santos-Aviles, had an affair.
Santos-Aviles reportedly doused herself in gasoline before catching fire outside her Uvalde home on Sept. 13 and died the next day at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Uvalde Police Chief Homer E. Delgado previously told reporters there was no indication of foul play, adding that home surveillance showed Santos-Aviles was alone at the time.
The Express-News now reports that in a separate Oct. 24 letter to the Texas Attorney General’s Office, Garza’s colleague, Uvalde City Attorney Austin Beck, wrote that the investigation into the woman’s death “appears likely to be closed in the near future without resulting in criminal prosecution against any person.”
However, Beck and San Antonio-based attorney R. Javier Guerra, who’s representing Santos-Aviles’ husband, are still requesting that the documents not be released.
Beck argued in his letter to the AG’s office that the city isn’t legally required to release the records because the incident didn’t result in a conviction.
Meanwhile, Guerra, on behalf of Santos-Aviles’ husband, wrote to Uvalde officials that his client wants the records kept from the public because they contain “highly intimate or embarrassing facts.”
The Attorney General’s Office ruling on the matter could take up to a month and a half.
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