Former Hays County Sheriff’s Office Correction Officer Isaiah Garcia case dismissed

Update 6/27/24: The Hays County Sheriff’s Office has released video from the body cam worn by Isaiah Garcia in the Joshua Wright shooting. Note that the released recording is in a redacted form to provide for the privacy of other individuals not directly involved in the incident. In addition, the audio portion of the recording does not begin until a significant portion of the recording has occurred. According to HCSO, such audio has not been redacted; however, the hardware and software for the specific body worn camera worn by the officer results in the video beginning approximately 60 seconds before audio recording begins.

The video content may be found at https://youtu.be/FWmxxT0SvK8. Viewer discretion is advised as it contains graphic material that may be disturbing to some viewers. 

(Editor's Note: This story was updated at 11:20 a.m. on Thursday, June 20)

SAN MARCOS — At a hearing on June 20, 2024, the state of Texas dismissed the deadly misconduct case of former Hays County Sheriff Office Corrections Officer Isaiah Garcia, whose actions allegedly led to the death of Joshua Wright.

According to an investigation conducted by the Wright family’s attorneys, on Dec. 11, 2022, Joshua was experiencing a medical emergency at the Hays County Jail, where he was being held pretrial for misdemeanor crimes. Shortly after 3 a.m. on Dec. 12, 2022, he was taken to the Ascension Seton Hays Hospital Emergency Room  in Kyle. Here, a shift change occurred, leaving Garcia and another guard to accompany Joshua.

A lawsuit filed by the family stated that the detainee asked to use the bathroom at approximately 11 a.m. and was escorted by Garcia. He then exited the restroom and allegedly pushed past Garcia to move down a hallway. It was then that Garcia, who was also armed with a standard-issued TASER, fired several shots at Joshua — through his left arm, right upper arm, ribs and, finally, a fourth and fifth shot that wounded in his lung and thoracic and cervical vertebrae, according to the lawsuit.

Originally, Garcia was scheduled to have a plea of guilty on June 20, 2024, but Hays County Assistant District Attorney Gregg Cox approached 274th Judicial District Judge Gary Steel to announce that the state is “looking to dismiss.” Afterwards, he escorted Wright’s family and friends, including his mother, Beverly, who stated that Garcia is “still a murderer” to the courtroom as she exited.

Outside, Cox explained the situation to the family, revealing that Garcia will never have a job in the state of Texas that allows him to carry a weapon. Although it is unlikely, he still could technically get a job out of state, said Cox, but the company would probably do a background check, find this indictment and dig deeper, so the chances of him getting the job would be low.

“The system is screwed up. It’s very screwed up. There are different rules for you and I as citizens than it is for law enforcement. So, always remember that,” said Beverly. “They try to say it’s not, but it definitely is because the only thing [Garcia] had to do was quit shooting. He didn’t have to unload his gun into my baby like that, but he decided to do … I’m just so sad it turned out this way.”

According to Hays County Criminal District Attorney Kelly Higgins, the case was dismissed at the request of the Wright family, otherwise the state was ready to proceed with trial: “This is what the justice system produced at their request. So, I feel like it’s as close to justice as I could get for the family.”

“Gregg Cox is as serious a prosecutor as you will ever find anywhere. He was personally handling the case, personally getting it prepared for trial and he had upheld all the conversations with the family that were held over this,” said Higgins. “[Cox] has been very hands-on throughout … I can just tell you, I rely on him 100%. I trust him.”

Higgins did not elaborate on the reason for the family request and Beverly declined to comment on the grounds for the dismissal.