SAN ANTONIO – A former Uvalde CISD officer will be arraigned on Thursday morning.
Adrian Gonzales was indicted on 29 counts of abandoning/endangering a child, a state felony.
The charges come more than five months after a grand jury in Uvalde County was first impaneled to review the case for possible criminal charges.
Former UCISD chief Peter Arredondo was also indicted on 10 counts of abandoning/endangering a child.
He has waived his appearance for arraignment and has already submitted a not-guilty plea.
Thursday’s arraignment will take place at the Uvalde County Courthouse and will be presided over by Judge Sid Harle, the 4th Administrative Judicial Region judge.
Gonzales’ attorney is Nico LaHood. He told KSAT 12 they would be making an appearance to get a sense of what to expect in this case.
“It gives us opportunity, obviously, to speak with the prosecutors,” LaHood said. “We plan to pick up, I don’t know how much of the evidence, but a portion of the evidence and to start conversations”
The biggest task LaHood said his team will have to deal with is going through the large amount of evidence.
“Our understanding, from what the prosecutor has told us, is that there’s an enormous amount of evidence, as you can imagine, with over 370 law enforcement officers there, you can imagine the body cams, the reports, school video,” LaHood said. “This is going to be a lot to look through, and it’s going to be a long process.”
LaHood said it’s too early in the process to ask for a change of venue, but he understands the magnitude of this case for Uvalde.
“It’s a hard case in the sense that it’s emotional,” LaHood said. “I mean, you’re dealing with so much loss and you’re dealing with precious children. But my client, he feels did nothing wrong, he was just there to help.”
LaHood hopes nobody passes judgment on his client until all the evidence has been presented.
“That righteous anger, that is justifiable and understandable, I mean, just pause and see whether it’s appropriately directed towards Mr. Gonzalez or not,” LaHood said.
The arraignment is scheduled for 8:30 Thursday morning. No cameras or phones are allowed in the courtroom.
KSAT 12 and KSAT.com will have the latest on the hearing as well as any reaction from those in attendance or outside.
State jail felonies are punishable up to two years in a state jail.
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