Harris County Grand Jury Fails to Indict Officer in Teen Shooting Death

HOUSTON - Aug. 27, 2014 - PRLog -- The Santellana family is extremely disappointed and saddened after a Harris County Grand Jury’s decision today not to indict Officer Rey Garza in the shooting death of their 17-year old son, Jonathen. Jonathen was shot at least 6 times while trying to drive away from the off-duty officer, who lived and worked in the apartment complex where the shooting took place.

The officer was dressed in his gym clothes and could not visibly be identified as law enforcement when he approached Jonathen's vehicle. The passenger in the vehicle with Jonathen at the time of the shooting stated that they believed they were being robbed when a man approached with his gun drawn and, in fear for their lives, attempted to drive away.

The officer, who sustained only minor injuries, attributed the firing of his gun multiple times to a fear of being run over by the fleeing vehicle; however, witness testimony at the scene indicates that the officer fired directly through the rear windows of the vehicle at Jonathen and the passenger inside the vehicle rather than at the tires or any other place that may have brought it to a stop.

Harris County grand juries have failed to indict a number of officers involved in shootings over the last two decades. Many of these cases resulted in the deaths of unarmed individuals. In the death of Jonathen Santellana, no weapons were found in the vehicle, yet the off duty officer still felt compelled to shoot at least six times at the teens who thought they were fleeing an attempted armed robbery.

Jonathen’s family has hired Juan L. Guerra and George K. Farah of the Law Offices of Guerra & Farah, PLLC to represent them in seeking justice for the death of their son. Although the family has been denied justice through the criminal justice process, they will continue to fight on behalf of their son through the civil justice process.