New details revealed in Progreso teen’s murder

A probable cause affidavit revealed new details about a woman accused of killing a Progreso teen after she fled from police for allegedly driving while intoxicated.

The Weslaco police affidavit against Daena Nicole Gonzalez details the moments leading up to the police pursuit that ultimately resulted in the death of Mercedes High School senior Jaime Garcia Jr., who was rear-ended by Gonzalez’s vehicle as she fled from Progreso police.

The affidavit appears to confirm that the responding officer, Progreso Police Chief Cesar Solis, did not restrain Gonzalez with handcuffs before she engaged in a physical struggle with him and then fled in her Ford Explorer.

Solis failed to restrain Gonzalez, 27, of Edinburg, even though she showed numerous signs of intoxication and tried at least once to return to her vehicle prior to the struggle, the affidavit shows.

After pulling her over and asking her to step out of her vehicle, Solis saw Gonzalez get off her vehicle’s bumper, close the rear hatch and start to run to the driver’s side door of her vehicle, the affidavit read, in part.

“Chief Solis begins running behind Gonzalez as she opened the driver door and gets inside. Chief Solis sees Gonzalez trying to put the vehicle in drive. Chief Solis is now struggling with Gonzalez instructing her to get out of the vehicle. Gonzalez begins pushing Chief Solis away and managed to put her vehicle in drive,” it further reads.

The affidavit then goes on to describe how the police chief continued to struggle with Gonzalez as she began to drive away. Fearing for his own physical safety, Solis let go of Gonzalez before returning to his patrol unit and initiating the pursuit.

Solis had pulled Gonzalez over after a caller reported seeing an alleged drunk driver in a blue Ford Explorer vomiting outside a Stripes gas station in Progreso before getting back on the road.

Solis located a vehicle matching that description going northbound “at a high rate of speed” on Farm-to-Market Road 1015 near Baker Road.

Solis saw the vehicle run two red lights before pulling over near the Gonzalez Road intersection.

Since the driver had been heading toward Weslaco, a police officer from that city was also dispatched to the scene. But that officer left soon after arriving when radio traffic indicated another pursuit was occurring in Weslaco.

“Officer Constantino is advised by Chief Solis that he could clear and that a DPS Trooper was enroute (sic) to his location,” the affidavit reads.

Meanwhile, Solis had already initiated a conversation with Gonzalez, as well as a passenger.

Solis asked Gonzalez to exit the vehicle and immediately noticed several signs of intoxication, including “a strong odor of alcohol,” and “an unsteady balance” and that Gonzalez was “swaying from side to side as she walked to the rear of the vehicle.”

Furthermore, Gonzalez’s responses to the police chief’s questions were slurred and slow, the affidavit reads.

Gonzalez allegedly admitted to drinking alcohol while in Mexico.

While Solis was speaking to Gonzalez, he noticed her clothing appeared to be stained with vomit and urine. Gonzalez failed three attempts at a field sobriety test, prompting Solis to request that a DPS trooper perform a portable breath test.

While they waited for the trooper to arrive, Solis instructed Gonzalez to open the rear hatch of the SUV and sit on the bumper.

Sometime after the Weslaco officer arrived and left the scene, Gonzalez allegedly stood up and walked toward the driver side door to speak with her passenger, but Solis ordered her to return to the back of the vehicle and continue waiting while seated on the bumper.

Gonzalez complied — briefly — before again addressing her passenger, telling her, “to call her mom so that she could get ready to bail her out because she was being accused of drinking and driving,” the affidavit reads.

At this point, Gonzalez stood up for a second time and began closing the rear hatch of the SUV. She allegedly ran toward the driver side door and struggled with Solis as he tried to stop her from fleeing.

But Solis couldn’t stop her. Instead, Gonzalez put the SUV in gear and fled, leading Solis on the pursuit that would end in deadly consequences for Garcia, the 18-year-old who was weeks away from graduating from Mercedes High School and joining the U.S. Navy.

The pursuit came to a violent end when Gonzalez allegedly slammed into Garcia’s vehicle as he waited at a red light on the corner of Farm-to-Market Road 1015 and Mile 6 North Street.

The impact was so forceful that Garcia’s vehicle was launched into the intersection, hitting a third vehicle in turn.

According to witnesses, Garcia’s vehicle — a Kia Optima — immediately burst into flames, trapping and killing him inside.

As for Gonzalez and her SUV, the impact with Garcia’s car caused her to ricochet over a curb and get entangled with the chain link fence of a nearby business.

Her speedometer got stuck at the moment of impact, reading 90 mph, police said.

Solis declined to comment on the pursuit or the investigation when reached by The Monitor earlier in the week, including a direct question over whether he had handcuffed Gonzalez during the traffic stop.

“This is a very serious matter, okay? The case is still under investigation by another agency, so at this point, I’m not gonna make any comments regarding this specific incident,” Solis said Tuesday.

The Monitor has requested the Progreso Police Department’s policy manuals, including its policies regarding vehicular pursuits, but has yet to hear back.

The paper obtained the probable cause affidavit for Gonzalez’s arrest via a Texas Public Information Act request submitted to the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office.

County records show Gonzalez has a criminal history stretching back to 2014.

From 2014 to 2016, Gonzalez was convicted of several crimes, including possession of a controlled substance, theft and assault of a public servant. In all three instances, Gonzalez was sentenced to probation.

Currently, Gonzalez is awaiting trial on two additional charges stemming from a June 2021 incident during which she allegedly threatened to murder a woman, court records show. She has been charged with criminal mischief and making terroristic threats in that case.

Monitor staff writer Erika De Los Reyes contributed to this report.