El Paso Texas DA Fails Victims

Cases big and small, the El Paso DA fails.

"It makes me feel like the loss to our store does not matter," says Nancy Gomez.

Far too many people in El Paso have a problem with how the District Attorney's Office handles cases. Recently, in the case of the Walmart Shootings, Patrick Crusius, the DA's Office, offered a plea deal that would grant Crusius life in prison if he pleaded guilty.

"This is about allowing the families of the 23 victims who lost their lives on that horrific day - and the 22 wounded - to finally have resolution in our court system," El Paso County District Attorney James Montoya said in a statement.

Montoya later acknowledged at a news conference that not all families agreed with the reversal by his office, which under previous leadership had committed to taking the case to trial and seeking the death penalty.

There is a growing problem in the Office of the El Paso County District Attorney. From the DA ignoring pleas from victims hoping to receive Justice, to the DA's office failing to mail required, time-sensitive paperwork to crime victims, there is an ever-growing catalog of failures.

In El Paso, Texas, the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore found that someone had broken into their box truck.

The individual who broke into the truck damaged the lock on the box truck and wall attachments where the ratchet set was hanging on the inside wall.

In this case, Tyler Rankin of El Paso was arrested, charged, and placed on deferred adjudication probation despite his lengthy criminal record.

The El Paso County District Attorney's Office sends a packet to each crime victim as part of the court process. This packet includes documentation that the victim can fill out for restitution from the bad actor once convicted.

Nancy Gomez, the manager of El Paso's Habitat for Humanity ReStore, received the packet. The letter she received was dated 2 April 2025. She had fifteen (15) days to complete and submit the enclosed paperwork. Usually, fifteen days wouldn't be an issue, and anyone would find more than ample time to have the forms returned.

Once again, the DA's Office failed.

On 2 May 2025, Rankin was sentenced to three (3) years of deferred adjudication probation. If Rankin doesn't violate his probation, this charge will be removed from his lengthy record.

Rankin was convicted on 2 May 2025, and the letter from the DA's Office to Nancy Gomez was postmarked 9 May 2025, seven (7) days after Rankin's sentencing.

"It makes me feel like the loss to our store does not matter," says Nancy Gomez when asked how receiving the letter after sentencing made her feel. "As a nonprofit, that is especially disheartening."

We contacted the El Paso County District Attorney's Office for a comment. They refused to respond.

"The fact that they won't respond adds to the fact that I believe they don't care," says Nancy Gomez.

While the Walmart shooter escaped the death penalty, and what happened to Nancy Gomez and the Habitat for Humanity ReStore are not on the same level, it does show that District Attorney James Montoya does not seem to care about those he was elected to serve.