Following unsuccessful attempts to uncover more details into the death of her son, Sandra Diaz is now suing the city of Edinburg for what she claims was the wrongful death of Jesse Davila at the hands of Edinburg police.
An Edinburg police officer shot and killed Davila, 29, in January 2021. In the months that followed, Diaz — his mother — petitioned a court to obtain reports of the shooting. That petition was denied, according to the lawsuit.
Then last month, Diaz — together with other family members — filed a lawsuit against the city, the police officer who shot Davila and the woman who made the call to police the day he died.
The case was removed to federal court earlier this week.
THE SHOOTING
Edinburg Police Officer Alex Cruz responded to a call about an assault-in-progress on Jan. 11, 2021, at around 5:49 a.m.
After Cruz arrived at the apartment located at 1709 Orlando St., police claim that Davila lunged at Cruz and ignored commands to stop, according to a custodial death report.
“On arrival Officer Cruz could hear female screams coning (sic) from within the apartment,” the report stated. “Officer Cruz entered the apartment through the unlocked front door and made his way toward a bedroom where he observed the screaming female laying on her back on a mattress on the floor and the suspect on top of her holding her down with both hands.”
Mr. Davila did not threaten Defendant Cruz with a knife while inside Defendant Reyes’ residence.
The report further stated that Davila stood up after Cruz repeatedly commanded him to show his hands and Davila came toward Cruz, prompting the officer to push him back and down to the floor.
Davila got back up, the report stated, and lunged at Cruz.
“The suspect continued lunging toward the officer(,) closing the gap between them(,) placing the officer in fear for his safety,” the report stated. “The officer defended the attack by discharging his firearm toward the suspect and stopping the threat.”
However, the lawsuit filed by Davila’s family disputes the account.
First, the family’s petition claims the call to police was a “false call for protection” made by Nancy Reyes, the mother of two of Davila’s children and also a defendant in the case.
“Mr. Davila was not armed inside Defendant Reyes’ residence,” the lawsuit states. “Mr. Davila did not threaten Defendant Cruz with a knife while inside Defendant Reyes’ residence.”
The custodial death report did not state whether Davila was armed. In a section of the report meant to denote whether Davila was armed, Edinburg police marked “unknown.”
His family’s lawsuit further claimed that Cruz did not state his intent to shoot Davila.
“Defendant Cruz did not warn Mr. Davila that he intended to shoot him,” the lawsuit reads, adding he subsequently died at a local hospital. “Defendant Cruz’s illegal shooting of Mr. Davila left four minors without a father.”
The lawsuit points out that in the final amended custodial death report filed on Oct. 25, 2021, the city noted Davila “did not attempt to escape or flee nor did he attempt to gain Defendant Cruz’s weapon.”
“At all material times, Defendant Cruz, had no reason to believe that Mr. Davila was armed or dangerous,” the petition states. “Every reasonable officer would have known that using force against an unarmed individual constituted excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment.”
OTHER SHOOTINGS
Davila’s family argue that his death is just one example of a death prompted by an Edinburg police officers’ use of excessive force.
They listed three examples — Davila’s death on Jan. 11, 2021, the death of Hunter Clay Adams who was shot and killed on Feb. 6, 2021, and the death of Leeroy Villarreal who was shot by Edinburg police on Sept. 27, 2022.
With three policies in under three years, Defendant City of Edinburg also specifically knew that its officers needed specific training on the use of deadly force.
While Texas Attorney General custodial death reports don’t list a Hunter Clay Adams, the agency does list a Hunter Clay Alan, 48, who, according to the report, was shot and killed by police on Feb. 6, 2019, which conflicts with the date and name in the lawsuit.
The reason for the discrepancy is not immediately clear, but in the custodial death report, police said he was holding a knife to his throat and threatening suicide.
This happened at 11:01 p.m. after police received several calls from 2904 Pablo Street about a domestic disturbance involving a suicidal man, according to the report.
Police said they attempted to deescalate the situation, but “it was evident that the suspect was not cooperating.”
Authorities deployed a Taser, but police claim Alan charged at them and threatened to kill them, which is when two unidentified officers shot Alan multiple times.
The report said Alan suffered from bipolar and schizophrenia disorders and was under the influence of medication and alcohol at the time of the fatal shooting.
Unlike Alan’s killing, Villarreal’s shooting garnered public attention.
Villarreal, 36, was killed by police after sustaining multiple “distant” type gunshot wounds.
The shooting occurred after Edinburg police were called for a possibly intoxicated man driving recklessly by a school.
In a news conference after the shooting, police called the incident a “classic case of suicide by cop,” stating that Villarreal’s girlfriend had told police that he owned a handgun but was not sure whether he had it on him at the time.
Police said they learned after he was killed that he was unarmed and instead had an object.
Villarreal’s mother pushed back on the “suicide by cop” narrative during an Edinburg city council meeting, demanding a thorough investigation into the matter.
In addition to that, they note that the city changed its use of force policy twice in less than a year, according to the lawsuit.
The city revised the policy on Oct. 27, 2020, which was in place when Cruz shot and killed Davila. Less than six months after Davila’s death, the city revised the policy again.
“With three policies in under three years, Defendant City of Edinburg also specifically knew that its officers needed specific training on the use of deadly force,” the petition states.
They argue the city failed to properly train or modify its training for its officers on matters related to the reasonable and appropriate use of deadly force.
DISCIPLINE
The family does not believe that either the city or then-Police Chief Cesar Torres had disciplined Cruz or that the city had conducted an internal affairs investigation into the incident.
“Defendant City of Edinburg had the power to terminate or appropriately discipline Defendant Cruz for his misconduct prior to May 25, 2020, but failed to do so despite the City’s knowledge of a pattern of complaint regarding excessive force,” the petition stated. “By refusing to terminate Defendant Cruz, Defendant City of Edinburg caused Defendant Cruz to act with impunity and without fear of retribution.”
The family alleges that their decision to not terminate or properly discipline Cruz is part of a larger custom, policy or practice of failing to terminate or discipline officers for improper conduct.
When asked about the disciplinary actions that had been taken following the incident, the city would not comment.
“The City of Edinburg does not comment on personnel matters or pending litigation,” the city said.
Davila’s family is seeking a money judgment against Cruz, the city and Reyes.
