Family of man killed by Edinburg police files lawsuit seeking $30 million

The family of a 36-year-old man shot and killed by Edinburg police in September 2022 has filed a federal lawsuit against the city’s police department and five of its officers.

Lydia Villarreal, the mother of Leeroy Villarreal, Tristan Hernandez, the man’s son, Kyna De La Rosa, the man’s wife, and his minor daughter, K.V., filed the lawsuit against the police department and officers Ashley Rosales, Jose Perez, Carlos Romero, Adan Lopez and Zachary Saenz on Thursday.

Leeroy Villarreal was shot and killed by police on Sept. 27, 2022 at 2817 E. Rogers Road after police were called about a possibly intoxicated man driving recklessly by a nearby school. After the shooting, Police Chief Jaime Ayala told media at a press conference that the man’s death was a “classic case of suicide by cop.” His mother, however, pushed back at a city council meeting following her son’s death, saying her son got the death penalty for reckless driving and that he was shot more than 30 times.

Police later admitted that he did not have a gun, but instead an unknown object, which the lawsuit said was a cellphone. Police refused to identify the object at the time and open records requests for information about the internal investigation were denied by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

Police have said that his girlfriend told them he owned a handgun, but that she was unsure he had the gun with him at the time of his death. Police have also said that they had information that Leeroy Villarreal “had a surprise for police” and that he verbally threatened them, but never tried to obtain an officers’ weapon.

Ayala previously attributed the “surprise for police” statement to his girlfriend and a custodial death report doesn’t mention this.

Authorities also said that at one point Leeroy Villarreal “pointed an object at officers on scene which was believed to be a firearm.”

He had been barricaded in his truck and negotiators attempted to communicate with him for about 50 minutes with no response or compliance, according to the custodial death report.

“At approximately 1:22 p.m., the male suspect exited the vehicle extending his arms and pointing an object resembling and perceived to be a handgun at the officers on scene as he ran in their direction in an aggressive manner,” the report stated.

This is when “the officers” involved fired “to stop the threat.”

The lawsuit paints a different picture of the fatal shooting.

That document said police were called to the scene after an Edinburg school district police officer reported the man’s truck driving recklessly by Memorial Middle School.

“Officers received multiple calls stating different unreliable information which were relayed via police radio,” the lawsuit stated. “The officers claim that those calls described Lee Roy Villarreal being intoxicated.”

Another school district police officer reported “that there was a suspicious man hiding in the bushes who possibly had a gun.”

One of the school district police officers approached the truck and yelled at the man that he needed to speak with him, which is when Leeroy Villarreal opened the driver-side door and sat halfway out of the truck, according to the lawsuit.

“Sargeant (sic) on scene relayed to responding officers via police radio that a male subject had opened the driver’s side (door) and made a quick movement,” the lawsuit stated.

The lawsuit does mention that the man’s common-law wife was able to communicate with him, but it does not provide a timeline for the events like the one police provided after the shooting.

That document said he exited the truck and walked toward police “who had him barricaded in his property.”

“Police officers with scopes on their rifles and sights on their pistols believed his cell phone to be a weapon,” the lawsuit stated. “The defendants fired off their weapons and shot Lee Roy Villarreal in excess of 30 times.”

His mother previously told city council members that her son had been shot more than 30 times.

“At the time of the shooting, Lee Roy was unarmed, with nothing but a cell phone in hand,” the lawsuit stated.

The man’s family is claiming that the officers used excessive force and that he was never a threat. They also say he followed all of their commands and that non-violent methods could have been used before he was shot.

“It would have been obvious to a reasonable officer that the conduct of the officers who fired their weapons was excessive, unreasonable, unnecessary, and unlawful in the circumstances of this case,” the lawsuit stated. “The force used by the officers named above was objectively unreasonable under the circumstances, and their actions violated clearly established constitutional rights to be free from unreasonable and excessive force.”

The family also alleges that the police department was grossly negligent and that it has a custom, practice or policy that resulted in Leeroy Villarreal’s death.

“The grossly negligent and deliberately indifferent nature of the City of Edinburg Police Department’s customs, practices, and policies is established by the numerous complaints of police misconduct and lawsuits filed against The City of Edinburg Police Department involving use of force,” the lawsuit stated.

The family is seeking monetary relief of more than $30,000,000.