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VOL 107, NO 38 22 pages, 2 sections, 3 inserts

© 2017 Pleasanton ExpressSINCE 1909

COMMUNITY CALENDAR 10ASPORTS 1-3BFARM & RANCH 8, 9 10BOBITUARIES 9B

CLASSIFIEDS 4-7BREAL ESTATE 5, 6, 7BPUBLIC NOTICES 5, 6B

Deputy Luis and Elida Garza leave a legacy

STEPHEN GARCIA

SPORTS EDITOR

Halfway through the year, the unemployment rate in Atascosa County remains low despite a marginal increase in June, ac-cording to data released Friday by Workforce Solutions Alamo.

The county’s unemployment rate rose from 4.3 percent in May to 4.5 percent in June. However, numbers tend to increase during the summer when teachers are considered unemployed, said

Lydia Elder, WSA public and gov-ernment relations coordinator.

“The unemployment rate is ac-tually moving along pretty much the same as it was this time last year,” she said. “The average in 2016 was 5.3 percent for the whole year, so it’s slightly lower than that, which is pretty good.”

The strength of the oil and gas industry has played a big role in the Atascosa County job market, Elder said. The unemployment rate is significantly improved compared to the recession when

it averaged 8.2 percent for 2010.The unemployment rate began

to move in a positive direction in 2011 when it decreased to 8 percent and then 6.7 percent in 2012.

“Compared to the way it was during the recession, it’s a very good place to be,” Elder said. “Atascosa County is going to be one of the counties with a higher unemployment rate because it is in that Eagle Ford Shale area. So it is going to be slightly higher out of our 13-county region, but

overall it’s not the highest. It’s still in very good standing.”

The counties in the WSA area had an overall jobless rate of 3.9 percent in June. McMullen County had the lowest rate at 2.1 percent.

Atascosa County remains below the state average for unemployment. Texas had an unadjusted rate of 4.7 percent for June, which grew from 4.4 percent in May. Elder said she believes the county’s unemploy-ment rate will continue to be

healthy throughout the year.“I think it will stay around 4

percent,” she said. “I think the unemployment rate is going to go back down when the summer months are over and teachers go back to work.”

To combat unemployment, WSA aims to connect business-es with workers around the region. WSA has a career center in Pleasanton located within Coastal Bend College.

District Attorney Louis seeks justice and peace for murder victims

Jake “JC” Peoples† October 14, 2015

Ariel Fernandez† December 13, 2015

Officer Robert Deckard† December 21, 2013

Esperanza “Hopey” Frausto† October 18, 2014

Lindsey Wadkins† June 18, 2014

Juan Rafael Garza is pictured with his grandson, John Daniel. Standing behind him is his wife, Carol, and kneeling are his daughters Danielle and Laura. Since 1999, the Atascosa County Law Enforcement Officers Associa-tion gives special awards in memory of Luis and Elida Garza. “On behalf of my family and I, we would like to thank Atascosa County for all their help and support,” Garza said. “I have learned in the past two years the kind of support the community had given to us as children that I was not aware of. It’s an honor that my parents are still remembered after all these years.”

ERIKA VELA

SPECIAL ASSIGNMENTS EDITOR

In the summer of 1973, four children from Charlotte were orphaned in a bizarre and tragic turn of events at the hands of a man named Leonard Wilson Freeman.

Freeman was on his way to rob a bank in Cotulla, when he passed Deputy Sheriff Luis Garza and his wife, Elida, on the road in Charlotte. The Garzas were on their way to the gro-cery store, but they never made it. They were taken at gunpoint and murdered by Freeman. The Garza children never saw their parents again, and their lives changed instantly.

Over the years, many have wondered about Luis, Juan, Dora and Maria. Are they OK? Where are they now? Who did they become? The Pleasanton Express recently sat down with Juan Rafael Garza, the second oldest of Luis and Elida’s children, two days before the 44th

anniversary of their death.Garza is an operations

manager of DeepWell Energy Services, LLC and now resides in San Antonio. He said his three siblings are doing well and also live in San Antonio.

“Little by little, I’ve been running into family and friends in the area. We get to talking, and they come out and ask me if I was related to so and so, and when I say yes, that’s when the story comes out. They know who I am when the story comes out. They remember,” said Garza.

Lasting LegacyGarza had turned 10

three weeks before his parents were murdered. Despite sharing only 10 years with his parents, they both left a lasting leg-acy he has always carried with him.

While researching about his parents over the years, Garza found a lack of details about his mother. He showed a photo he has always carried in his wallet

of his mother and him. The photo is partly water-dam-aged, however, you can still see Elida’s beaming smile.

“She was a sweet lady and always had a smile on her face. It didn’t matter what was going on, she was always smiling,” said Garza.

Elida loved to make tortillas and did so to earn extra money for her family. Garza said a friend growing up wore shoes that were torn and tat-tered. With some of her earnings, Elida purchased a new pair of shoes for his friend. Garza said she had a helpful heart and asked her why she did things like that.

“She said I was one of the lucky ones. You don’t know how good you have it until you look at the person next to you. I’ll never forget that, and I’ve always thought about that in everything,” said Garza. “My mom, she was just my world. To this day, I miss that lady so much it’s

unreal. You always need your mom, even at my age.”

Garza’s father, Luis, who he says is still his role model, taught him lifelong lessons. When making decisions in his life, Garza always considers the les-sons his father taught him.

“My last words from him were, ‘If something ever happens to me, I just want you to take care of your sisters and brother. Don’t ever go stealing. Always do the right thing. Help your fellow friends and family and always be there for them. Take pride in what you do,’” said Garza. “He always told me don’t ever try to hurt others by get-ting ahead of yourself. I’ve always carried that with me. His deal was, he want-ed to save the world. If he could make a better world for the next few years, like he would say, that’s all he wanted to do.”

NOEL WILKERSON HOLMES

PUBLISHER

When 81st Judicial District Attorney Audrey Louis took office in January, one of her pri-mary goals was to get six pending murder cases in Atascosa County to trial. The six cases which are all more than three years old, were Shawn Puente (capi-tal), Jenevieve Ramos (cap-ital), Joe Anthony Perez (capital), Jose Juarez (capi-tal), John Finch, Samantha Hurt Jones, Naomi Delgado

and Guy Flores. This week, the trial dates

for those cases, plus four additional, are being set in Atascosa County. Donna S. Rayes, 81st District judge, will preside. As of press time, the court is waiting for families and lawyers of the victims and accused to be notified before releas-ing all the trial dates. The Pleasanton Express will be reporting updates as they are released.

Joe Anthony Perez, who is charged with capital murder, aggravated assault

with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault date/family/home, is set to stand trial on December 4. Perez is accused of killing Ariel Fernandez, who died of a stab wound December 13, 2015 just five days after her 24th birthday. The trial is currently set to be held the week of what would be Fernandez’s 26th birthday.

Shawn Ruiz Puente and Jenevieve Ramos are charged with capital mur-der in the death of SAPD Officer Robert Deckard.

Deckard, a 31-year-old fa-ther of two and seven-year veteran of the force, was shot in the head December 8, 2013 while pursuing Puente and Ramos who were armed robbery suspects. Deckard spent 13 days in the intensive care unit at San Antonio Military Medical Center with a bullet lodged in his brain. He died December 21, 2013. The trial was set for August 9. However, Judge Rayes granted the defense’s continuance in the death penalty trial.

The trial date is tentative-ly scheduled for January, 2018 as of press time.

Samantha Hurt Jones, John Bryan Finch and Naomi Delgado are charged in the June 2014 murder of Lindsey Wadkins, 29. Wadkins, who was shot multiple times, was found dead by a pair of high school students just north of Jourdanton on a rural county road. Wadkins, a 2002 gradu-ate of Pleasanton High School, left behind a toddler. According to

Atascosa County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO), Wadkins was friends with the three accused of killing her. The ACSO suspects that drugs were involved.

Guy Flores is charged with killing 89-year-old J.C. (Jake) Peoples, who lived in Pleasanton. Investigators stated that Peoples had evicted Flores from the rental property where the alleged murder took place. Peoples was reported to have died from blunt force trauma to the head

Atascosa County unemployment rate remains low

See JUSTICE, 6A

See JOBS, 6A

See GARZAS, 7A

LIVING FCCLA earns gold, 9A

SPORTSPoteet art project, 1B