San Angelo Man Takes Plea Deal for Drive-By Shooting

SAN ANGELO, TX— A San Angelo man has agreed to take a plea deal after shooting a victim in the back of the head in a drive-by shooting.

Andrew Jacob Garza, 19, of San Angelo, has agreed to take a plea deal for six counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and two counts of Deadly Conduct Discharging a Firearm.

According to court documents, San Angelo police were dispatched to the intersection of 19th Street and Brown Street regarding a shooting. On scene, investigators observed a vehicle that had significant gunshot damage. The owner of that vehicle said she went to the Nueva Vista Apartment complex, located at 2401 North Lillie Street, to pick up four people.

The owner entered the passenger seat and let one of the individuals she knew drive her vehicle. They drove south on Brown Street and stopped at the stop sign at the 19th Street intersection. A passenger car was traveling west on 19th Street and turned north on Brown Street then slowly drove past the other vehicle that ended up sustaining the damage.

As the suspect vehicle past them, it stopped and then someone began to shoot at their vehicle. One of the males that was picked up at the Nueva Vista Apartments was struck in the head by gunfire and he had bullet fragments removed from the back of his head.

After mistakenly identifying two individuals, the gunshot victim said that Garza and Tayden Thibodeaux where the two individuals who shot him.

The scene was canvassed for cameras and video footage was found. In the footage, a dark colored BMW drove past the victim vehicle, then stopped and two individuals produced handguns and fired at the other vehicle.

An officer located a BMW passenger car driving northbound in the 2400 block of Lillie Street. This vehicle matched the vehicle in the video footage. Also, Garza was wearing clothing that matched what the passenger was wearing when he exited the BMW and shot at the victim’s vehicle.

Garza was interviewed and he denied having been involved in the shooting and claimed he was taking Thibodeaux home after they were swimming at the Ben Ficklin low water crossing.

In exchange for a guilty plea, Garza has been sentenced to eight years for each count. Those sentences are to run concurrently. Garza is also ordered to pay $7,428 in restitution.