JURY INDICTS MAN WHO HIT AND KILLED CONSTABLE; SEEKS, AND IS DENIED A LOWER BOND

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

A Cameron County grand jury has indicted a 47-year-old McAllen for hitting and killing Cameron County Precinct 1 deputy constable Ruben Garcia September 30, 2024.

The jury indicted Jesse Edward Leatherwood on a charge of intoxication manslaughter December 4, but Leatherwood – who was scheduled for arraignment this past Monday, January 27 – waived the hearing and entered a plea of not guilty.

Leatherwoods attorney, Ed Stapleton, filed a motion to set a reasonable bond for his client. On Monday a judge denied the bond reduction.

His trial is tentatively scheduled to begin March 31, with an announcement scheduled for March 27.

Leatherwood remains held in the Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center on a $350,000 bond.

The Texas Department of Public Safety arrested Leatherwood following the crash that happened at approximately 6:45 p.m. September 30 on State Highway 48 near Marine Way Road.

Garcia was assisting DPS with another crash when Leatherwood, who was driving a white Chevrolet Silverado, rear-ended Garcia’s patrol vehicle.

DPS initially said Leatherwood claimed he was looking at his phone, but investigators suspected he was intoxicated and obtained a blood warrant.

The grand jury indictment alleges that Leatherwood was “intoxicated by reason of such introduction of a controlled substance, a drug, or a dangerous drug into the body.”

 

Leatherwood, from McAllen, was employed as a project manager at a company (JAFEC) doing business at the port. The company is doing contract work for one of the LNGs leasing from the Port of Brownsville. 

Sources at the time told El Rrun-Rrun that workers under him at the work site noticed he was slurring his words and appeared under the influence of alcohol or some other drug before he left work that evening.

A search of the Hidalgo County inmate records indicate he had been charged with possession of under two ounces of marijuana in April 2021.

"He was slurring his words and sounded drunk," they told friends.

Garcia was a Brownsville resident.

The driver admitted to officers of being distracted while looking at his phone. DPS suspected the driver was under the influence and the blood warrant was obtained. He was transported to Valley Baptist Hospital in Brownsville with non-life threatening injuries. Magistrate Leonardo Rincones signed a search warrant for a blood draw.