Texas Attorney General's Office to prosecute cases in Breanna Wood murder

Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez announced late last year he would seek to recuse himself and his office from all criminal court cases related to the 2016 murder of Breanna Wood — a request granted by the court on Jan. 11.

Now, those cases have a new prosecutor — the Texas Attorney General's Office.

In an order filed on April 7, it was announced that "after due consideration," the "Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Prosecutions Division of the Attorney General of Texas" had agreed to accept an appointment to prosecute all remaining cases related to Wood's murder.

The order also noted that multiple "surrounding counties' district and county attorneys" and "district attorneys from larger counties from different parts of the State" had declined the appointment "for various reasons" in the court's initial search for a new prosecutor.

A status hearing has been scheduled for April 20 "to set a trial schedule for each cause."

According to the attorney general's website, "The Criminal Prosecutions Division has four sections that aid local jurisdictions where the county may not have the expertise or the resources available to investigate or prosecute a complex case."

The division may also "assist if a conflict of interest prohibits the local jurisdiction from taking part in the case."

It has been five years since the body of Breanna Wood was discovered in an abandoned oil field trailer surrounded by brush off State Highway 666 near Robstown.

Three of the seven people indicted for crimes in connection with Wood’s death — including Joseph Tejeda, accused of murdering Wood, his ex-girlfriend, in 2016 — are still awaiting trial.

Three people — Christopher Gonzalez, Gregorio Cruz, and Magdalena Yvette Carvajal — took plea deals back in 2018, and one, Theodore Allen, died in jail in 2020.

Trials for Tejeda, as well as Sandra Vasquez and Rosalinda Musella (Tejeda's mother), have been repeatedly delayed over the years — most recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a January interview, Breanna Wood's mother, Fallon Wood, decried the five-year delay in getting justice for her daughter and said the Nueces County District Attorney's Office has treated her daughter's cases with negligence and failed to provide proper communication.

In October 2021, Wood alleged the district attorney's office blocked her personal email address.

As a result, Wood said, she filed a grievance with the Texas Attorney General's Office and the Texas State Bar.

Nueces County court records also show that a new judge has been assigned to all cases involving Breanna Wood's death.

In a court order dated Dec. 20, 2021, 105th District Court Judge Jack Pulcher motioned to recuse himself from cases involving Tejeda, Vasquez and Musella.

Presiding Judge of the 5th Administrative Judicial Region Missy Medary subsequently assigned Senior Judge J. Manuel Bañales to the cases on Dec. 27, 2021.

The reassignment came just days after Gonzalez, the district attorney, asked to recuse himself and his office from any cases involving Breanna Wood’s death on Dec. 15, 2021, after his office became aware of Fallon Wood's grievance. Gonzalez noted in the motion that the grievance had been dismissed by the State ar.

Additionally, Gonzalez claimed in the motion that Fallon Wood had “threatened civil litigation against the Nueces County District Attorney's Office, CCPD and the Honorable (105th District Court) Judge Jack Pulcher.”

In a text message to the Caller-Times, Wood said she never threatened the Nueces County District Attorney’s Office with litigation; instead, Wood said she told the office it needs to be “responsible and accountable.”

Wood said she first became aware of the state's motion for recusal “in an email, not a phone call,” from Nueces County First Assistant District Attorney Angelica E. Hernandez, who also served as the state’s lead prosecutor in all of the cases involving Wood’s death.

The Caller-Times obtained that email, in which Hernandez wrote, “I fully admit that this case could have been handled better, should have been handled better, from the very beginning.”

Kailey E. Hunt covers breaking news and public safety in South Texas. Help support more local coverage with a subscription at caller.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Texas Attorney General's Office to prosecute Breanna Wood murder cases