A 35-year-old woman who maintains her innocence on a charge of murder for the death of her husband is scheduled for a bond reduction hearing Monday afternoon.
Elsa resident Lucinda Diaz has been held on a $500,000 bond since Sept. 17 on accusations she shot and killed 31-year-old Craig Chastain on Sept. 5.
Diaz reported her husband’s death as a suicide but after a preliminary autopsy and what Edinburg police say are inconsistencies in her statements, detectives charged her with murder. Investigators say the preliminary autopsy shows Chastain was shot in the lower back area of his head, which a forensic pathologist determined was inconsistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
During her first request for a bond reduction in front of 464th state District Judge Ysmael D. Fonseca, Diaz’s defense attorney Juan A. Tijerina requested her bond be reduced to $50,000.
However, after Fonseca disclosed that he signed several warrants in the case, Tijerina requested the hearing be moved to another judge’s court.
The request landed in front of 370th state District Judge Noe Gonzalez.
Diaz briefly appeared before Gonzalez on Nov. 4, but there was some confusion over the case and it was rescheduled.
During that hearing, Diaz again claimed she was innocent.
Edinburg police, however, allege that Diaz shot Chastain after an argument when the man told her he was going to leave her while she was pregnant. Investigators even found a bag packed with clothes, according to the probable cause affidavit.
For Diaz’s part, she admitted that they got into a “stupid argument,” but said she heard a loud pop when she went into the bedroom and closed the door, according to the probable cause affidavit.
During that first bond reduction hearing, Tijerina said Diaz has no criminal history and is having health issues with her pregnancy and is mourning the loss of her husband.
The defense attorney said she is receiving treatment for the pregnancy, but says she also is in need of emotional and psychological help.
