El Paso District Attorney revives Domestic Violence Unit
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The El Paso District Attorney's Office is reviving a unit specifically to address domestic violence cases in the community. This announcement comes during October's Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
District Attorney Bill Hicks said the state and federal grants total about $1 million for a domestic violence unit.
"Through a combination of federal grants and state grants, I've been able to cobble together enough grant funding to where I have enough for a chief, a senior trial attorney, two victim advocates and an investigator," said Hicks, a Republican who is running to remain in office after Gov. Greg Abbott appointed him to fill the seat left vacant when District Attorney Yvonne Rosales resigned in Dec. 2022.
Domestic Violence Prosecutions
Rosales actually dismantled the specialized prosecutorial unit shortly after taking office in 2021.
Hicks says he expects to have the unit up and running by December 2024. The unit will include a response team that will enable the team to visit with the victims within 24 hours of the offense, said Hicks, who added that he anticipates the unit could address about 2,000 cases a year.
The state and federal grants are each funded for 3 years, but Hicks said he hopes to prove to County Commissioners Court, which would need to approve taxpayer funding for a unit after the grant runs out, that this unit should be a permanent fixture once again.
"(The cases) need to be looked at by prosecutors who have specialized training in domestic violence to understand not just the cycle of violence, but to understand the social impact of a domestic violence charge," Hicks said.
With mere days left before the election, ABC-7 asked Hicks' Democratic opponent, former prosecutor James Montoya, about his thoughts on the need for a unit specializing in domestic violence cases.
"Every year, law enforcement agencies in El Paso present to the District Attorney's Office about 30,000 cases for prosecution. Of those cases, about 8,000 are family violence-related," Montoya said. Montoya added, according to data he reviewed, the El Paso D.A.'s office has dismissed more than 50 percent of the felony domestic violence cases reviewed by its prosecutors.
"The need to have specialized lawyers working on these cases is very high," Montoya continued. "There is- I've been saying it the entire campaign- a tremendous shortage in the DA's office, and I think that's led to all these dismissals."
Hicks countered Montoya's arguments.
"I've said all along, domestic violence cases are very particularized cases and while not every domestic violence case needs to be prosecuted, absolutely every domestic violence case needs to be looked at," Hicks said, adding, "James believes the staffing in the office is more dire than it is."
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
The nonprofit Texas Council on Family Violence released a report on Oct. 1 detailing just how big a problem domestic violence is in the state. The report is titled Honoring Texas Victims, and it details the 205 murders involving intimate partners in 2023.
Based on its parameters, TCFV found that in El Paso, there were four murders involving intimate partners last year.
El Paso's Domestic Violence Deaths in 2023
Michelle Morales-Nakaza, 32, went missing in April. Police found her body on April 12.
Read ABC-7's reporting on the disappearance and murder investigation of Morales-Nakaza
Her boyfriend, Christopher Maya, was arrested and pleaded guilty to murder in February of this year.
On June 11, Deborah Sheeran, 56, was shot and killed by her husband, Eric Sheeran, 58, at their home. He died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez-Garcia, 46, was killed by his boyfriend, David Luna Mijares on Sept. 24. Court records show Mijares is awaiting trial for murder on Dec. 13, 2024.
Jose Luis Avalos Reyes, 47, was found shot to death in the home he shared with his wife on Dec. 27. Luz Elena Martinez, 54, reportedly told them she shot her Avalos after he attacked her. Crimes Against Persons detectives, who interviewed Martinez right after the murder, found "inconsistencies" in the evidence the more they investigated. After a three-month investigation, El Paso police arrested Martinez. She is awaiting a murder trial scheduled for March 2025.
How to Honor the Victims
On Sunday, Oct. 27, the District Attorney's Office is holding its annual Crime Victims Walk.
The five-mile walk will start at Ascarate Park at 7am and end at Ralph T. Cloud Park on Williamette Avenue.
It is free to register.
