An arrest warrant made public on Monday morning described the events leading up to a deadly shooting Sunday evening outside St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church, 2316 Broadway Street.
Pete Garcia Jr., 55, was arrested in Levelland in the hours after the shooting when he turned himself in.
The warrant said Garcia and Judy Ann Garcia were married for 32 years and their divorce was finalized in October.
Judy Garcia started dating the shooting victim, Orestes “West” Garza, after the divorce. Judy Garcia told Lubbock Police that within the last two weeks Pete Garcia left her messages that he purchased a firearm and he was “going to fix the problem.”
Judy Garcia told police that she in fact reported these messages to LPD when they happened and she reported that Pete Garcia was seen driving near her home several times. According to the warrant, she was told there would be an investigation but “nothing more could be done.”
After mass at St. Elizabeth’s, Judy Garcia got into a vehicle and waited for Garza. But then she saw Garza was running, and Pete Garcia was chasing him with a gun in his hands.
The arrest warrant said, “She observed the gun pointed at the victim’s back and then heard (4) four gunshots.”
Garza collapsed, and Pete Garcia ran away, according to the warrant.
Garza was taken to University Medical Center and was pronounced dead a short time later.
The warrant said Pete Garcia admitted to a friend that he shot Garza. Garcia threw the gun in a field south of Sundown. He also admitted the shooting to his son, according to the warrant.
Garcia was held Monday morning in the Hockley County Law Enforcement Center on a $1,000,000 bond. There was no immediate word on when he would be transferred to Lubbock.
