Before David Garza was arrested for killing 36-year-old Fabian Villagomez in October 2020, someone shot him in the neck within a few days, likely in retaliation.
He was left as a quadriplegic.
Garza signed a plea deal for voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 years in prison with another 5.5 years probation in April 2023. His earliest release date is in May 2032.
His lawyer James Thiros filed to modify Garza’s sentence in April 2024. A court date was pushed back several months.
During the Zoom hearing Friday, Thiros argued Garza was not getting adequate medical care while incarcerated at the Plainfield Correctional Facility, as its only quadriplegic inmate.
Garza, now 23, told the court that he was left with bed sores that led to an infected bone. He had been going to a local hospital twice a week until September when he was discharged.
In prison, there was no physical therapy. He was not moved regularly. His bandages were not regularly changed, he said. His cellmates had to bang on the door to ask for a nurse.
Staff told him they would address his issues “if they get around to me.”
His spine was starting to get “crooked,” arms began to “curl,” and his hands were balling into fists.
Thiros acknowledged the prison bought things to help him, including a medical wound vacuum and a specialty mattress.
Deputy Prosecutor Chris Bruno asked Garza if he was discharged from the hospital as the sores were healing.
Judge Samuel Cappas said Garza’s account conflicted with documents filed by prison officials.
The question was “why would I let him go home” if the care wasn’t superior to prison, he said.
Cappas told Abigail Davis, a state government lawyer, to get his direct prison caretakers together to testify later to the court, saying they should have been on the call to hear Garza’s testimony.
In the meantime, Cappas would read transcripts from Garza’s April 2023 sentencing to see what long-term medical care he was promised in prison.
Cappas set a new court date for Feb. 28.
