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Two charged with murder in shooting death
Published November 18, 2009
SEGUIN — Police concluded their investigation into the Oct. 16 shooting of Garland Taylor on Tuesday serving a pair of murder warrants on men previously arrested and already in custody on organized crime allegations.
Michael DelaGarza, 33, and David Buitron Jr., 37, booked on allegations of engaging in organized criminal activity, were charged with first-degree felony murder in warrants delivered to them in Guadalupe County Jail Tuesday morning by Detective Sgt. Curle Price.
Seguin’s top detective, Lt. Jerry Hernandez, said the new warrants came as a result of countless hours of investigation and numerous interviews conducted over the month since the shooting.
“Based on the investigation, there’s sufficient evidence to conclude probable cause that they were both involved in the shooting of Garland Taylor,” Hernandez said.
Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Darrell Hunter magistrated both men on the murder allegations and bail for DelaGarza, arrested Nov. 6, was raised to $200,000. Buitron, of McQueeney, arrested Oct. 22, also was also booked for unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a controlled substance and evidence tampering and saw his bail raised to $285,000 on the arrest warrant signed by 25th Judicial District Judge Dwight Peschel.
The pair are among 14 arrested on organized crime allegations in connection with the late-night confrontation on Anderson Street in which Taylor was shot, which Seguin police say was a confrontation between local chapters of the Mexican Mafia and the 74 Hoover Crips criminal street gangs.
Police say confirmed and suspected members of the Crips went to Anderson Street at about 11:20 p.m. after one of the defendants, Timothy Dailey, 19, was struck with a beer bottle in an earlier dispute.
When Taylor died three nights later, the shooting investigation became a homicide investigation.
All the suspects save one remain in jail or detention awaiting trial.
Court documents filed in connection with the investigation reveal DelaGarza and Buitron’s suspected involvement in the shooting as well as the alleged or suspected gang involvement of those at the scene of the incident.
“Numerous witnesses and suspects were identified and interviewed,” Price wrote in the murder affidavit filed with court officials Tuesday morning.
In his Nov. 6 affidavit seeking a warrant for DelaGarza’s arrest, Price had written that his investigation had revealed that others at the scene had referred to a Hispanic man who fired in Taylor’s direction as “Mikey or Mickaycio, which translates to ‘little Mike.’”
Dailey told investigators he had been walking earlier on the evening of Oct. 16 when he was confronted by Christopher, Marc and David Buitron in the 900 block of Anderson Street and got into a fight. David Buitron, Price wrote, is known to police as a member of the Mexican Mafia.
After being struck with a beer bottle, Dailey reportedly ran to a 6th Street address where he contacted members of the 74 Hoover Crips and others police say are associated with the gang.
“These subjects were later identified as Justin Lee Gonzales, Gregory Wayne Popham, Kendall Green, Jordan R. Sheffield, Darrell Sheffield, (a 16-year-old boy) and Garland Taylor,” Price wrote.
Police identified them and others and learned that Jordan R. Sheffield carried a handgun to Anderson Street, which Garland Taylor took from him just before the shooting started, Price wrote.
“During the interviews it was discovered that Darrell and Jordan are members of the 74 Hoover Crips and Garland Taylor and Gregory Popham were named as members of the East Terrorist Gangsters,” Price wrote. “Interviews with these subjects revealed that upon arrival, Timothy Dailey and Garland Taylor walked up (to a home). Timothy demanded to know where the subjects were who had assaulted him, and Timothy was confronted by a Hispanic male, later identified as Michael Edward DelaGarza. Timothy and Michael continued to argue and then Garland Taylor took the handgun Jordan was carrying and pointed it at DelaGarza. Reliable and credible witnesses have positively identified Michael Edward DelaGarza and David Buitron being in the front yard of the residence and also gave testimony that Michael Edward DelaGarza was in possession of a handgun and pointed it at Garland Taylor.”
Price wrote that David Buitron yelled and ordered DelaGarza to shoot Taylor.
Taylor backed away, and DelaGarza moved toward him and began firing his handgun, Price wrote.
“Several shots were fired and Garland Taylor was shot in the head,” Price wrote.
Based on the investigation, Price asked Peschel to sign a murder warrant, which the judge did.
Hernandez said Tuesday’s warrants are likely to be the last connected to Taylor’s shooting.
Police Chief Kevin Kelso said because of the gravity of the offense and the potential for additional crimes, his Criminal Investigation Division made the case its top priority and was basically able to work on little else for a month.
“Everything in this case happened so fast that all of the investigators devoted a whole month to this,” Kelso said. “This wasn’t just an 8-to-5 investigation. The first two weeks, these men had no weekends, and they missed a number of activities with their family because someone lost their life. We had to find out what was going on.”
The county attorney’s office, district attorney’s office, sheriff’s office and other agencies who didn’t want to be named took part in the investigation, Hernandez said.
“I want everyone to know this department is very grateful to all the resources that contributed to this case,” Hernandez said.
Kelso wanted everyone to know something else.
The police didn’t just round up and jail everybody they could connect to the scene, Kelso said. The 14 arrests made in the case were all made after a judge was shown there was probable cause.
“We’ve gotten some feedback in the community that we’re trying to put as many people in jail in this investigation as we could,” Kelso said. “Basically, what we were doing was just the opposite. We’re dealing with a community problem — criminal gang activity and the crimes that go with it. It wasn’t the job of these detectives to prove anyone innocent or guilty. It was to find out what happened, and Garland Taylor couldn’t tell us.”
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