As Tarrant County child sexual abuse trial neared end, defendant killed himself at home

Emerson Clarridge
·2 min read
62

A man on trial in Tarrant County on an indictment that alleged that he sexually assaulted a girl during acts over two and a half years killed himself last week at his Fort Worth house.

The precise status of the trial at the time of the defendant’s death is not clear.

Closing arguments in the guilt-innocence phase of Gabriel Gomez’s trial on continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 were to begin in Criminal District Court No. 2 on March 4 at 9:30 a.m.

Fourteen minutes earlier, at 9:16 a.m., Gomez was pronounced dead at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth. He was 50.

The cause of Gomez’s death was hanging, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office.

A document the court filed with the district clerk notes that the case was submitted to the jury on March 4 at 10:28 a.m., and the panel was discharged at 11 a.m. due to the death of the defendant.

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Evidence presentation in the trial began on Feb. 28.

Defense attorneys Clark Birdsall and Carlos Gomez represented Gabriel Gomez. Carlos Gomez and Gabriel Gomez are brothers.

State disclosure of a cellphone used by the girl who the state alleged was the victim was the basis of a motion for continuance the defense filed while the trial was underway. The phone might hold evidence that would help the defense, Gomez’s attorneys argued.

“Now that we are in trial, it is too late to get this phone extracted while this jury is in the box, especially since the state will want to concern itself with the potential presence of child porn,” Birdsall wrote.

Judge Scott Wisch denied the motion.

Birdsall did not return a telephone message seeking an interview. The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office did not respond to questions about the case.

The indictment alleged that the sexual abuse occurred between May 2016 and January 2019. A grand jury indicted Gabriel Gomez in April 2021.

If you or a loved one are experiencing a crisis, call 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or chat online at 988lifeline.org.

Victims of sexual assault can contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline for confidential support at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or chat at online.rainn.org.