Liz Teitz
San Antonio Express-News
(TNS)
A week after charges were dropped against an officer, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday released body camera footage from a corrections officer who shot and killed an inmate at a Kyle hospital in 2022.
Joshua Wright, 36, was an inmate at the Hays County Jail and was receiving treatment at Ascension Seton Hays Hospital when he was killed in December 2022.
Hays County officials said Wright shoved Isaiah Garcia, who was assigned to guard him, and tried to escape.
The video shows Garcia waiting outside a bathroom, then attempting to handcuff Garcia after he exited. Wright shoved past Garcia and ran. Garcia chased after him, pointing a gun at Wright, who falls to the ground about seven seconds after the chase began, the video shows.
Wright, whose feet are shackled together, stands up and begins moving again before falling a second time.
The video, which lasts 1 minute and 14 seconds, has no sound for the first 55 seconds. The sheriff’s office said that was due to the camera’s hardware and software.
The audio at the end of the video captures Garcia telling Wright to “get on your stomach” three times as he lies on his side. Garcia can also be heard saying “somebody get this person out of the way,” as he gestures to a patient lying on a gurney in the hallway next to where Wright fell.
A grand jury indicted Garcia last April on a charge of deadly conduct, a third-degree felony, but declined to indict him on charges of murder or manslaughter.
Garcia was “released from service” when he was indicted, the sheriff’s office said. Garcia pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Last week, Hays County District Attorney Kelly Higgins announced the charge had been dropped, citing “the request of the Wright family.”
“They communicated their wishes to have the case dismissed after consulting with their legal representatives,” Higgins said in a written statement.
“The reasons offered by the family for their request were carefully considered and, ultimately, found to be persuasive,” Higgins said. “We have chosen to respect the family’s privacy and will offer no additional discussion of those reasons.”
The Hays County Sheriff’s Office said it decided to release the footage because of the dismissal.
“We believe it is in the public’s best interest to release this specific body worn camera recording at this time,” the sheriff’s office said in a written statement. “There will be no further comment, discussion, or voluntary release of any additional information on behalf of our office regarding this matter.”
Previous requests to release the video were denied as both the sheriff’s office and the Texas Department of Public Safety argued it would interfere with the investigation.
Shortly after Wright was killed, his family and community members called for the release of the video.
His mother, Beverly Wright, and Isabel Olivo Salinas, the mother of Wright’s child, filed suit against Garcia last July in federal court.
In the lawsuit, they said Garcia could have used non-lethal options to restrain Wright, such as a taser. They said Wright was shot five times, and said Garcia’s use of deadly force was “wholly excessive” and “objectively unreasonable.”
Last November, Garcia asked the court to halt the lawsuit due to the pending criminal case. A federal magistrate judge granted that stay in December until “criminal proceedings are completed.”
Beverly Wright and Salinas asked the court to lift the stay on Tuesday, court records show.
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