By Brittany Anderson
HAYS COUNTY —Jeffrey Conzemius, 60, was sentenced to seven years for a 2020 hit and run accident that resulted in the death of Viola Garcez. Judge Sherri Tibbe presided over the sentencing hearing held Oct. 18.
On Oct. 10, 2020, officers were dispatched to the H-E-B in Buda for a motor vehicle and pedestrian traffic accident. Officers found Garcez, 67, struck in the middle of the crosswalk. Multiple witnesses attempted to stop Conzemius, then 58, who fled the scene in his truck.
Kyle Police Department officers were able to locate Conzemius and his vehicle near his home in Kyle and conducted a traffic stop. Body camera footage played during the hearing showed Conzemius telling Deputy Jorge Cruz Jr. he did not have drugs or alcohol in his system and initially denying being taken to the hospital for a blood alcohol level test.
Conzemius eventually agreed to the test, which showed .08% BAC level and positive for THC. He was later charged with Accident Involving Death and transported to the Hays County Jail, being held on a $60,000 surety bond before being released from jail the next day.
Garcez was transported to Ascension Seton Hays in critical condition and later died. Her autopsy stated the preliminary cause of death was “multiple traumatic injuries.”
During the hearing, Garcez’s daughter Inez gave a powerful testimony to a visibly emotional court, speaking candidly about witnessing the accident, how it has affected her and her children’s lives and reflecting on memories she has left of her mother.
“If I went somewhere, my mom would go with us. She attended every single thing of the kids’. She always said we were her lifeline,” Inez said. “She was a very vivid, vibrant woman. We did everything together. There wasn’t a thing that we didn’t do.”
Cruz, who testified during the hearing, said that throughout the evening Conzemius had a calm demeanor, only asking once about Garcez and appearing to not express any sadness, anger or remorse even after he was told Garcez had died.
“In my experience, when I’ve had other incidents, people react pretty dramatically, or in the sense that they show emotion, whether it's crying, screaming, yelling. Those are for lower level charges,” Cruz said. “Along this line, I’m informing him that somebody had been killed, and I had none of those responses from him.”
Conzemius’ ex-wife, who served as a character witness for him, said that he was raised to “not show outward emotions in public” but that this situation had affected him immensely. Conzemius told the court that he left the scene because he was scared and panicked, but that he initially didn’t see Garcez in the crosswalk, and later apologized for his actions on the stand.
Conzemius’ attorney asked for probation, while Benjamin Gillis, Assistant Criminal District Attorney and attorney for the State in the sentencing, suggested a jail sentence of 20 years. Ultimately, Tibbe sentenced Conzemius to seven years in prison, saying that she didn’t think probation alone was appropriate but that the maximum sentence suggested wasn’t appropriate either.
“These kinds of cases are a horrible, horrible tragedy for the family of the deceased and also for the defendant, because I know that when he stepped out that night, he did not intend to run over that woman and kill her, but that’s what he did. Ms. Garcez did not deserve to die like that,” Tibbe said. “I understand, Mr. Conzemius, you have taken responsibility for this, you plead guilty. … But I still do not feel that you understand the depth of what you have done to this family and to the community and to the people who witnessed it that night. … I know that you didn’t mean to do this, but there has to be some accountability for it.”
Following the hearing, Conzemius was taken into custody.
