Bodycam video in fatal shooting of Hays inmate, Isaiah Wright, to be used in civil trial
By: Footage from the body camera worn by Hays County Corrections Officer Isaiah Garcia was released to the public on Thursday.
The video reveals the moment Garcia pulled the trigger on 36-year-old Isaiah Wright, who was a Hays County inmate.
On December 12, 2022, Wright was receiving treatment for an unknown medical issue at Ascension Seton Hays Hospital in Kyle.
In the bodycam footage from that night, you see Wright lunge towards Garcia, then run through the hallways of the hospital.
Garcia chases Wright, running by patients, before getting shot by Garcia several times in the back; inches away from Wright at this moment, is a person on a gurney.
Because of this, a Hays County grand jury indicted Garcia on a charge of deadly conduct, after reviewing the evidence in April 2023.
"The indictment was due to the fact that Officer Garcia fired his gun in a crowded emergency room with at least one patient in close proximity," said Quentin Brogdon, a former prosecutor and practicing attorney in Texas.
Last week, the Hays County District Attorney's Office announced they would be dismissing the indictment.
"The prosecutor can make a decision based on any number of factors to decline to go forward," said Brogdon.
In 2023, that same grand jury declined to return indictments against Garcia on charges of murder or manslaughter.
The attorney for Joshua Wright's family, Jeff Edwards, said, that if the DA won't do it-- he will try to hold Officer Garcia liable for wrongful death in a civil case.
"What we intend to show is that this is not merely about one or two shots, this is about firing at someone and then making a conscious decision to kill that person by shooting him in the back when they are defenseless," said Edwards.
Brogdon is unaffiliated with the case but said in his expertise, this bodycam footage will be a key piece of evidence in a civil trial.
"[The jury in the civil trial] will be able to see it literally, in living color, in the video, and they will be able to make their own determination as to whether or not the officers' use of force here was reasonable," said Brogdon.
CBS Austin reached out to the Hays County Sherriff's Office for comment on the release of this video, and they declined.
Edwards said the civil case will move forward in the upcoming months.