Two years following the fatal shooting of Joshua Wright, a wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against Hays County by his family. Wright lost his life while under the custody of the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, and the family's legal representative, Jeff Edwards, is pushing for accountability. According to a CBS Austin report, Edwards emphasized the need for change in training procedures within the Sheriff's Office, remarking, "I'll tell you right now that if this training isn't changed, this is going to happen again."
The incident involved former Hays County Corrections Officer Isaiah Garcia, who shot Wright at Seton Hays Hospital in Kyle, as captured by Garcia's body camera. The footage showed Garcia firing his gun at Wright five times, hitting him twice in the back while chasing him in the hospital. The lawsuit, besides seeking damages, is also demanding reforms within the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, as highlighted in the suit obtained by Headtopics, focusing on the use of excessive force and wrongful death claims.
Despite Wright posing no apparent risk of escape or danger, Garcia chose lethal force over less violent alternatives. As Edwards stated, "He shot a man in the back who didn't pose a risk, of escape or a risk of danger to anybody," this was reported by CBS Austin. This circumstance became more troublesome given Garcia's later admission that a stun gun could have been used in place of a firearm to subdue Wright. This revelation was compounded by Garcia's dismissal of a deadly conduct indictment earlier this year.
The fallout from the shooting has been profound for Wright's family, with Edwards detailing the enduring grief, notably a mother lamenting a void only known by those with similar losses and a daughter left without her father. However, acknowledging the ongoing litigation, the Hays County Sheriff’s Office has refrained from commenting on the case. Without comments from the Sheriff's Office, only the legal system's pathways remain to seek a reform in both remembrance and prevention of future incidents like the one that ended Wright's life.
