Ashley Pardo, 33, leaves Judge Miguel Najera’s courtroom after her hearing at the Bexar County Justice Center in San Antonio, Friday morning, May 30, 2025. Judge Najera approved her request for a bond modification allowing partial house arrest, so she can leave her home for work.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
It’s been a year since a San Antonio mom was accused of helping her son plan a mass shooting at a West Side middle school. Still, the Bexar County District Attorney’s office has yet to file formal charges.
Ashley Pardo, 34, was arrested by San Antonio police on May 12, 2025, and was charged with aiding in the commission of terrorism, a state jail felony.
Article continues below this ad
While her 13-year-old son was originally charged with terrorism, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office decided to pursue a charge of prohibited weapons.
The weapons charge was later waived during a plea deal in which the teen pleaded true to one count of arson in exchange for two years probation at a residential facility in the custody of a probation officer.
Pardo is accused of helping her son gather supplies as he planned to carry out a school shooting at Rhodes Middle School. After her arrest, Police Chief William McManus said Pardo’s charge was the first time it had ever been used in Bexar County.
READ MORE: SAPD chief on thwarted school shooting plan: ‘Very disturbing things found’
Article continues below this ad
Court records show that Pardo’s case is still awaiting indictment. In a statement to the San Antonio Express-News, the Bexar County DA’s Office said the case was still awaiting a charging decision.
“The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office is unable to provide further information regarding this active case,” it added.
While Pardo’s case is stalled as the DA’s office decides on how to move forward, her attorney, Joseph Appelt, said he is still considering all options under the law.
“The fact that the DA has not indicted her in a year speaks volumes about their case and the strength of their case,” Appelt said. “We will take whatever actions we feel (are) necessary that we have available to us under the law to move the case forward or get it dismissed.”
Article continues below this ad
If the state does not indict someone out on bond within 180 days, a defense attorney has the ability to file a motion to dismiss the case, according to the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.
However, these cases are dismissed with prejudice, meaning the state could still rearrest someone for the same case and bring forward an indictment at a later date.
Defense attorney Meredith Chacon attributes indictment delays to the DA’s backlog of unindicted cases, which has haunted Joe Gonzales’ administration for years.
She said defendants on house arrest, like Pardo, are in limbo while they wait for their cases to be resolved.
Article continues below this ad
“Their liberty is severely restrained while they’re out on bond this whole time that the case is pending,” Chacon said. “The case is just in limbo and they don’t age like fine wine.”
Aiding in commission of terrorism is a new charge added to the Texas Penal Code in 2023, with the purpose of helping authorities combat terrorism at the state-level.
According to the code, a person commits the offense if the person “intentionally raises, solicits, collects, or provides material support or resources with intent or knowledge that the material support or resources will be used, wholly or partly, to solicit, direct, supervise, plan, prepare, promote, carry out, assist, or aid in committing” an act of terrorism.
Officials said the boy, a student a Rhodes Middle School, was arrested off campus after the San Antonio Independent School District Police Department investigated online posts he had made.
Article continues below this ad
On the morning of May 12, the boy had gone to the school with a mask, camouflage jacket, and tactical pants.
In January 2025, law enforcement first contacted Pardo’s son about concerning drawings. The drawings included a map of the school labeled “suicide route,” with a rifle and muzzle flash above it. Officials said there were also morning and afternoon times written on the page.
Officials said the boy was fascinated with previous school shooters and their manifestos. Authorities learned he researched the Christchurch, New Zealand, mosque massacre on a school-issued computer, according to the warrant.
During the week of Pardo’s arrest, the boy’s grandmother had called SAPD’s behavioral threat team after she found a loaded rifle and pistol magazines in her home that belonged to her grandson, a mortar-style firework wrapped in duct tape.
Article continues below this ad
On it was written “for Brenton Tarrant,” the Christchurch gunman, along with the white supremacist slogan “14 words,” and “SS” symbols.
The boy later told detectives his mother had been taking him to the store and purchasing tactical gear in exchange for babysitting his younger siblings, according to the warrant.
Police said the boy had amassed a supply of magazines, a tactical vest capable of concealing ballistic plates, a tactical black helmet and various army clothing.
Investigators say Pardo was aware of threats made by her son. They said she was in constant contact with local law enforcement, child protective services and school personnel, but was “dismissive” of what she was told about her son.
Article continues below this ad
Months after posting bond, Pardo was arrested again and charged with child endangerment after being accused of pointing a gun at her infant daughter and taking a photograph of it.
The incident, alleged to have happened in 2023, was discovered by a San Antonio police detective while reviewing metadata from Pardo’s cellphone.
In March, San Antonio ISD voted to close down Rhodes Middle School.
Article continues below this ad