Sunday 13 March 2011

SBS: Texas: Jeromy de la Garza charged with capital murder

POTEET, Texas -- Unless it comes to strawberries, the town of Poteet rarely makes the news.

Major crimes are rare, so the death of a 6-month-old at the hands of his mother's boyfriend has shaken the community.


"You wouldn't think it would happen here," said Vanessa Aranda.

"We've only got just over 3,500 people in this town and this is the first time we've had an incident like this," Poteet Police Chief John Overstreet said.

Overstreet said the incident happened on the night of Feb. 22. They said a 6-month-old boy suffered a deadly injury at the hands of his mother's boyfriend, 28-year-old Jeromy de la Garza.

The child was pronounced dead of blunt force trauma to the head at University Hospital in San Antonio the following night. Police won't release details of the injuries because the case is still under investigation, but de la Garza was arrested on Thursday evening.

De la Garza was arrested and charged with capital murder. He's being held at the Atascosa County Jail, and bail was set at $1 million.

Overstreet said this is the first homicide in Poteet in seven years and may be the first capital murder in the town's history.

Aranda said she's sad to see big crime in the town of Poteet. As a mother to a 1-month-old boy, she said she was especially shaken.

"It's pretty sad what people can do to a baby. This is my first baby, so it's, like, horrifying to me," she said.

Although an arrest has been made, Overstreet said the investigation is ongoing. He said the family waited 10 hours before taking the baby to the hospital.
http://www.ksat.com/news/27109142/detail.html

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