SAN ANTONIO – The discussion of evidence and a trial date for the high-profile case of Daniel Garcia were heard in court Wednesday.
The show cause hearing took place in the 226th District Court as Judge Velia Meza was updated on where attorneys stood on the handling of evidence in the case.
Garcia is charged with the murder of his girlfriend’s son, 5-year-old Domenic Aguilar-Acevedo.
According to an arrest affidavit, the boy’s mother, Nickolle Aguilar, told detectives that on July 24 while they were staying at an Extended Stay hotel in the 6900 block of Interstate 35 North, Garcia struck the boy with so much force that he bounced off the wall and hit the floor.
The affidavit states that surveillance footage from the hotel shows Garcia carrying what appeared to be a lifeless body out of the hotel room.
Instead of reporting the boy’s death to authorities, Aguilar said she and Garcia drove to Colorado the next morning with the body and camped near the Rocky Mountain State Park, records show.
The couple then allegedly buried Domenic’s body in a remote location near the campsite and fled by car to Mexico and eventually to Costa Rica.
The FBI, San Antonio police and Costa Rican authorities are all involved in the case.
Garcia’s attorney said in court on Wednesday that they along with the state were having trouble getting evidence the FBI collected in the case.
“I’m completely as frustrated as you are and the prosecutor,” defense attorney Michael Gross said. “We aren’t being dilatory at all, the bureau is just not the easiest to deal with.”
The judge ordered both the state and defense to meet with the FBI by May 1 and also told them the case would go to trial this year.
“This whole back and forth is just not going to work,” Meza said. “It’s going to take us five years to get to trial and that’s not happening on my watch.”
Aguilar is still awaiting trial as her next scheduled court hearing is next month.
Garcia’s case as of now is tentatively scheduled to go to trial on June 19.
He could face a maximum punishment of up to life in prison if convicted.