A Pasco man accused of allowing a woman to die outside of his trailer is back in court in a case linked to her death.
Joe Cruz Garza, 58, spent three months in and out of court after the November 2022 death of Breanna Gooldy.
More than a year after prosecutors dropped a murder charge , Garza is back in court accused of violating a no contact order and stealing Gooldy’s identity.
It’s the latest turn in a case where Garza was let out of jail on an initial protection order violation only to face new charges for murder days later. The Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office was fined $1,000 for failing to turn over evidence and those charges were dropped in January 2023.
All after Garza allegedly refused to get help for Gooldy, 24, because he didn’t want to go to jail for violating the court order.
The new charges were filed in Franklin County Superior Court in July, and a summons was issued. A warrant was issued in early September after he didn’t show up.
Garza was released again from jail, but a $1,500 warrant was ordered after he failed to show up for a hearing on Tuesday.
Pasco woman’s death
Garza and Gooldy had a troubled relationship leading to the 56-year-old Garza being ordered by the court Oct. 17, 2022 to stay away from her, according to court documents.
But witnesses said it wasn’t long before Gooldy was staying at his travel trailer behind a Pasco convenience store.
A witness reported that two days before she died, Garza had hit Gooldy in the face, injuring her. She allegedly told a witness that Garza was mean, and he was going to kill her, according to court documents.
On Nov. 5, 2022, Garza claims Gooldy was “tripping” inside his trailer. She began breaking things before crawling outside. He claims she hurt herself in the process.
He said he tried to get her to come back inside but she fought him off. Another man told police he tried to help Garza bring her inside but they couldn’t move her.
The men put a blanket over her and left her outside . Security camera footage shows Garza go outside several times between 1:30 a.m. and 6:20 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2022, according to court documents.
When Gooldy stopped responding to him and felt cold to the touch, he called 911.
He told investigators he waited to call for help because he didn’t want to go to jail for violating the court order.
Police found her wrapped in two “extremely” damp blankets and a curtain and her body temperature had dropped to near 70 degrees. She died at the hospital 11 hours later.
Court documents don’t explain how Garza used Gooldy’s identity.
Charges and delays
After Gooldy died, Garza was initially arrested for violating the protection order.
The autopsy determined that her injuries didn’t cause her death so Pasco police said they believed Garza should be charged with manslaughter.
In the meantime, his attorney argued that Garza should be allowed to be released without bail, saying most of his convictions were old and non-violent offenses, such as drug possession and car theft.
However, Deputy Prosecutor Frank Jenny argued at the time that Garza had 69 convictions over the years and judges needed to issue many warrants to get him to court.
But it was the prosecution’s delay in turning over evidence to the defense that led Superior Court Judge Diana Ruff to release Garza.
Garza spent nearly two months in jail and it was just eight days before his trial on the protection order violation was set to begin when prosecutors turned over the evidence they planned to present.
On Jan. 9, 2023, four days after Garza was released from jail, prosecutors charged him with murder and he was rearrested.
Three days later on Jan. 12, 2023, prosecutors asked to pull back the murder charge but with the option to refile it, and Garza was released from jail again.
Garza’s attorney at the time, Charlie Dow, argued that the prosecutors shouldn’t be allowed to refile the case. Judge Norma Rodriguez disagreed and allowed the prosecutors to drop the charges in a way that they could be refiled.
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