Miranda Lopez had a heart for family, the poor, and the homeless. At H-E-B, where she worked, she noticed when elderly shoppers couldn’t afford their groceries, and she stepped in to pay their bills with her own money. She was reprimanded, but it did not stop her from doing it again. She loved sunflowers, aliens, and staying up late to play video games with her nieces and nephews. And on December 26, 2020, she was senselessly murdered at just 21 years old.
Returning from a dinner to her father J.R.’s house, Miranda and her sister Lisa were driving behind a car that was driving aggressively. The inhabitants in the car – Manuel Huerta and Jonathon Zavala – were brake-checking vehicles behind them, including Lisa’s. Naturally, Lisa honked her horn in response. That was all it took for Manuel and Jonathon to start shooting.
The criminals shot into Lisa’s car over nine times, while Miranda – who had never had to use her gun before – returned fire. Unfortunately, Miranda was shot in the back of the head. The criminals drove off into the night, unscathed. Lisa hurried the rest of the way to her father’s home, where J.R. ran out to the driveway to find his youngest daughter gasping and heavily bleeding. He held her in his arms until the ambulance came.
It was a whole year before District Attorney Jose Garza spoke with J.R.’s family about Miranda’s murder. According to J.R., at their one and only meeting with DA Garza, he said “I’m here for anything you need. Anytime you want to see me or talk to me, my door is open.” After that day, Garza never responded to the Lopez family’s calls or emails.
J.R. wanted life in prison for both of his daughter’s killers, but was flatly denied by Garza’s office. 99 years was also rebuffed. The sentence the DA’s office was seeking for Jonathon kept dropping and dropping, until Garza’s final offer was revealed – a 15-year plea deal, with the possibility of parole after just seven years. J.R. was horrified. “We wanted a jury trial,” he said, “but the Monday before the trial was supposed to begin, they gave the murderer this deal.”
This was not the first time the DA’s office mistreated J.R.’s family. “Towards the end of our series of court hearings, they would just call us in at random times, asking us to be in court in an hour,” said J.R. “We’d haul ass, and then they would negotiate without us. It was between the state and the criminals, while we were going into court blind.” J.R. says that this is just one example of the DA’s office’s ongoing failure to keep the family updated about Miranda’s case.
The criminals received sweetheart deals, all without the Lopez family’s input. Jonathon got 15 years in prison, despite being an illegal alien and having stolen weapons and a stolen car in his possession. He is eligible for parole in 2027. Manuel got 35 years total for not just Miranda’s murder, but a second murder he had committed just a month before hers. If Manuel had been caught for his previous murder, Miranda may still be alive today.
J.R. and his family are still in shambles. He and his daughter struggle with PTSD, anxiety, and depression from the events of that day in 2020. They are frozen in time, just like Miranda. Miranda’s room, too, is untouched since her passing. The clothes she was wearing on the night she was killed lay neatly folded on her bed. The bed is covered with stuffed animals, including alien plush toys, that J.R. has bought her since her death. Photos of his daughter at her graduation and with her family are peppered on every wall.
J.R. worries about his two living children, and ensures that they carry firearms to protect themselves. But he doesn’t want them to have to use them like Miranda did. Instead, he wants a DA who means business and judges who actually serve their communities. “Our country deserves to be safe,” he said.
“Jose Garza needs to be removed,” says J.R. “He has no sense of justice, and he is not qualified for his position. He does all sorts of shit behind our back with taxpayer dollars. It looks like he has a high rate of convictions, but that’s because they’re all done by plea bargains. I need real justice for my daughter and justice would be getting him out of the damn office.”
When asked about the possibility of a state-wide prosecutor office in Texas, he said that such a position would mean hope for Miranda’s case. It could mean a retrial for the offenders and a sentence that would fit their crimes. “I would love to see that position open up and someone other than Garza having the last word,” said J.R. “His last word is always the wrong one.”