A judge granted David Garza’s bid to leave prison Friday.
Before Garza was arrested for killing Fabian Villagomez, 36, in East Chicago on Oct. 1, 2020, he was shot within two days in retaliation — and left as a quadriplegic.
Garza, now 23, 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 lawyer James Thiros argued for his release, saying the Plainfield Correctional Facility, outside Indianapolis, wasn’t providing adequate medical care.
Deputy Prosecutor Chris Bruno argued they went above what they could have. That included going to a local hospital until his discharge in September for bed sores.
The prison also ordered a specialty mattress and chair. They gave him permission to travel to the hospital, medical scans and allowed him access to specialists.
Garza testified in January that he had no physical therapy in prison. 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. His spine was starting to get “crooked,” arms began to “curl,” and his hands were balling into fists.
Judge Samuel Cappas converted Garza’s sentence to 10 years — with five in the Lake County Community Corrections’ day reporting program and five on probation.
He was in no position to commit another crime, Cappas said, after someone in Villagomez’s family shot up Garza’s house, wounding him in the neck.
It was essentially “street justice,” he said.
Cappas said he re-read the sentencing transcript where Garza’s mother said he was poorly treated when in a facility meant to care for quadriplegics.
Community Corrections will monitor him. If his medical care was worse, he would go back to prison. Garza appeared on Zoom along with Abigail Davis, a state government lawyer.
He is expected to be released in April.