ECTOR COUNTY, Texas (Nexstar)- An attorney for Angelica Garcia, a woman accused of killing twin girls in a crash on July 2, 2019, has requested the trial be moved out of Ector County. Attorney Michael McLeaish stated in a Change of Venue motion, “There exists in Ector County, so great a prejudice against her that she cannot obtain a fair and impartial trial.”
The attorney cited coverage of the crash by local media as one of the reasons Garcia might not receive a fair trial locally.
“News media, digital, television, and print media have all stated false, and actually salacious statements about the defendant’s condition at the time of the accident,” he wrote.
In short, the attorney said the media reported Garcia as having slurred speech and bloodshot eyes when she was arrested. Her attorney told the court her slurred speech came from an injury to her mouth that required stitches. He said the bloodshot eyes were from crying after the crash.
He said news interviews with “grieving parents” might also have caused potential jurors to form a pre-trial opinion about his client. Further, McLeaish cited “Justice for Mia and Mya” bumper stickers as well as an online petition with more than 20,000 signatures calling for justice as evidence of public opinion regarding his client.
Garcia was arrested in 2019 after police said she drove her car through a barricade on the Highway 80 service road near Club Drive killing 6-year-old twins Mia and Mya Coy. The twin’s parents were working at a fireworks stand in the area and said the girls were playing nearby when the crash happened. Police said Garcia was intoxicated behind the wheel, she was charged with two counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon and two counts of Intoxication Manslaughter. She remains behind bars on a combined bond of $400,000.
Parents Raul and Agueda Coy said in an earlier interview Garcia’s trial was pushed back several times because of COVID-19. It is not clear from the court documents obtained by ABC Big 2 News when the trial will be held, nor is it clear when the judge will render an opinion regarding the Change of Venue motion.
