Author: KVIA

Nicole Ardila

UPDATE (Oct. 28, 2026): A man from Chaparral, New Mexico, received a 15-year prison sentence for a New Year’s Day crash that killed an 18-year-old girl, the 34th Judicial District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday.

Forty-eight-year-old Abel Garcia pleaded guilty to intoxication manslaughter with a vehicle, a second-degree felony punishable by two to 20 years in prison.

Abel Garcia’s mugshot.(Courtesy: EPPD)

The crash happened Jan. 1 around 2 a.m. at the intersection of Gateway North Boulevard and Sean Haggerty Drive in Northeast El Paso.

Investigators said Garcia ran a red light and t-boned a Chevrolet Camaro.

The passenger, 18-year-old Angelique Diaz De Leon died at the scene, according to officials. Her boyfriend and driver, 20-year-old Nicholas Ramirez was injured.

A sample of Garcia’s blood revealed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.139, above the legal limit of 0.08, officials said.

“Angelique was a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. While no sentence can undo the loss her family and Nicholas carry every day, we were determined to hold Mr. Garcia accountable without making them wait years for a resolution,” said District Attorney James Montoya in a statement.

Update (4:30 PM): Court documents obtained by ABC-7 state that Abel Garcia, the man charged with intoxication manslaughter after the fatal New Year’s Day crash on Sean Haggerty, told police officers that he had six beers before the crash. The officers also reported seeing Garcia display signs of intoxication.

Court documents state that videos showed Garcia had run the red light and T-boned the other car.

The blood test came back almost two weeks later. The court documents state that Garcia’s blood alcohol level was 0.139.

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso Police arrested Abel Garcia, 48, and charged him with intoxication manslaughter after the crash on Sean Haggerty New Year’s Day that killed Angelique Diaz De Leon, 18.

Investigators say that Garcia’s pickup truck T-boned the car Diaz was riding in. The driver of the other car suffered minor injuries.

Police say that Garcia violated a red light. They add that alcohol may have been a contributing factor.

ORIGINAL STORY (January 1, 2026): ABC-7 is following a crash in Northeast El Paso that has closed all lanes on Gateway North at Sean Haggerty Thursday morning.

According to El Paso Police on X the crash happened just after 2 a.m.

Police say all lanes will remain closed until further notice.

This is a developing story and we will update you as we learn more.

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Gabrielle Lopez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The middle two lanes of Loop 375 East at U.S. 54 are closed due to a rollover crash on Wednesday, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

(Courtesy: TxDOT El Paso)

TxDOT said it happened around 4:22 p.m.

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Max Zepeda

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Candidates for Texas’ governor scheduled campaign stops in El Paso with less than a week to go before Election Day. Wednesday, Democratic candidate Gina Hinojosa spoke with El Pasoans as she runs to become the first democratic Texas governor since 1991.

Hinojosa is set to have a rally at the Epic Railyard Event Center in South-Central El Paso at 6 p.m. Earlier, she held a smaller rally at the University of Texas at El Paso with New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Former U.S. Congressman Beto O’Rourke also joined.

At UTEP, Hinojosa implored young voters to show up at the polls.

“As a major metropolitan area, El Paso has the numbers,” Hinojosa said. “And so I’m here to ask people to do everything in their power to run up the score.”

If elected, Hinojosa would be Texas’ first democratic governor since Ann Richards in 1991-95.

Hinojosa is running against Republican incumbent Governor Greg Abbott, who is seeking a fourth term.

Gov. Abbott will be in El Paso less than 24 hours after Hinojosa, as he is expected to hold a “Get-Out-The-Vote event” Thursday afternoon at Rosa’s Cantina in West El Paso.

Find ABC-7’s voter guide and resources on the Your Voice, Your Vote page.

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Gabrielle Lopez

SUNLAND PARK, N.M. (KVIA) — The South Central Regional Transit District (SCRTD) saw an increase in trips in fiscal year 2026.

SCRTD said it expanded schedules, added trips and brought new vehicles to better serve the community. As a result, it recorded 207,256 trips in fiscal year 2026, a 25.6% increase over the previous year.

The transit service’s changes gave riders more opportunities to get to work, school and take care of everyday needs. For example, SCRTD increased its Yellow Route to every 40 minutes. Riders also saw new vans and hybrid vehicles.

Doña Ana County supported free services so families wouldn’t pay any fares for their transportation needs, SCRTD said.

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Gabrielle Lopez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso hospitals celebrated National First Responders on Wednesday. University Medical Center of El Paso and El Paso Children’s Hospital thanked first responders with a lunch and gifts.

“UMC and El Paso Children’s Hospital are grateful to our community’s firefighters, police officers, paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), 911 operators and other emergency personnel who go above and beyond every day to answer the call and show up for our loved ones, friends and neighbors,” UMC said in a statement.

UMC and El Paso Children’s Hospital Celebrate First Responders Day(Courtesy: UMC El Paso)

First responders from across El Paso gathered to enjoy an outdoor lunch and free gifts. Among the groups were the El Paso Fire Department and Elite Medical Transport.

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Adrian Ochoa

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Miner basketball is back! ABC-7 is the home of the UTEP Miners and is getting in the game Wednesday.

ABC-7 Sports Director Adrian Ochoa and sports reporter Paige Wood will be live at the UTEP Basketball Call Up today as players rally fans for season tickets.

It’s your chance to dial up and show your support of the Miners! Call 915-747-8837 to participate.

Join the call up live on ABC-7 at 4, 5 and 6 p.m.

Call 915-747-8837 to participate.

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Gabrielle Lopez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The University of Texas at El Paso is one step closer to making legal education more accessible to the Borderland. The Woody and Gayle Hunt Family Foundation established a $5 million grant to support UTEP’s efforts to establish a law school — a major milestone for local aspiring legal professionals.

Wednesday, UTEP announced the grant will contribute one dollar for every dollar donated by the community. If the full $5 million match is secured, the challenge will generate a combined $10 million in support for law school efforts.

Since UTEP announced its goal of establishing a law school, other El Paso organizations and businesses have donated.

In October 2025, the Paul L. Foster Family Foundation established a $5 million matching challenge similar to the one announced Wednesday. In April, law firm Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro, P.C. committed $5 million. The initiative is halfway toward its $20 million startup funding goal.

UTEP is preparing to present it vision for a law school to the Texas Legislature in 2027. The university’s efforts follow a study that the legislature funded in 2023.

Members of the El Paso legislative delegation attended: State Senator Cesar Blanco and State Representatives Joe Moody and Vince Perez.

The study estimated that establishing a law school at UTEP would require $20 million in operating support over 20 years. UTEP proposed the legislature fund the building needed for a law school.

“I think we are closer to having a law school at El Paso than even before, and it’s because of the generosity of this community and the leaders of this community who said, ‘ Alright, we can do more together than anybody of us can do alone,'” said UTEP President Heather Wilson.

If approved, UTEP expects to enroll its first law students in 2030 and increase enrollment to 100 new students annually.

UTEP said a law school would fill a shortage of bilingual lawyers to serve people on both sides of the border. Specialized curricula include a focus on contracts, estates, taxation, imports and exports, customs and immigration and international water law.

Additionally, UTEP plans to make an accelerated degree path that would allow some undergraduates to start law school during their fourth year of college. Long-term plans include an evening Master of Laws program for attorneys trained in Mexico who wish to practice in the U.S.

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Heriberto Perez Lara

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Gerardo Cobos, a local construction truck driver, was driving west of Ciudad Juárez when he heard a distressing scream.

During severe storms that hit Ciudad Juárez last weekend, he heard a woman screaming for help and used his truck to reach a car trapped in a strong flood current, rescuing 10 members of a family, including two babies.

He was heading to his employer’s facilities after finishing his shift on Saturday when he noticed vehicles diverting around a flooded roadway near Arroyo de las Víboras.

Cobos said about 100 meters ahead, he saw a car caught in the rushing water and a woman in a yellow shirt calling for help through a window. He decided to approach the car despite the danger posed.

When Cobos arrived, he found the family trapped inside a car swept away by the floodwaters. The car had four adults and six children.

The family had crossed from El Paso to visit their grandmother in the Felipe Ángeles neighborhood in Juárez when heavy rain disrupted their trip.

Rushing water swept their car into a raised road barrier, where it lodged against a speed bump. A small wall prevented the car from being carried farther downstream, but the family remained trapped and couldn’t get out without risking being swept away, Cobos said.

Cobos, an operator for Concretos del Bravo, realized that approaching the car could have put him in danger, too, as the current was strong enough to destabilize his truck or push the stranded car back into the water.

Before attempting the rescue, he looked for a section where the water was not as dangerous and carefully maneuvered his truck toward the family, Cobos told Canal 44.

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Lauren Bly

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Tuesday, Doña Ana County Commissioners unanimously voted to have legal and county management provide notice to the Project Jupiter data center project of a potential breach of agreement about a proposed power plant.

Commissioner Chair Manuel Sanchez made a motion to authorize the county to provide notice of any breach of certain agreements about a proposed power plant for the data center.

Sanchez’ motion would “authorize legal and county management to provide notice to Project Jupiter entities of a potential breach of IRB agreements regarding the proposed power generation plant and engage in discussions to identify a path forward working with Doña Ana County.”

The motion passed unanimously.

The proposal comes after residents spoke out against a proposed agreement between Oracle, a developer behind Project Jupiter, and El Paso Electric. Representatives from Oracle said they wouldn’t pursue the agreement without further discussion with the county.

Sanchez said the Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRB) requires no connection between the data center and EPE. He said “there are ways that the company would be in breach if they went in that direction.”

ABC-7 has reached out to Oracle, Commissioners, and El Paso Electric and haven’t gotten any responses.

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Gabrielle Lopez

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — A 20-year-old man from Horizon City has been charged with evading arrest after allegedly driving away from a traffic stop on an ATV.

On Oct. 24, Marcus Sanchez drove an ATV on Paseo Del Este Boulevard in Horizon, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said.

Marcus Sanchez’ mugshot.(Courtesy: EPCSO)

Video from EPCSO showed the ATV driver performing a wheelie in front of a patrol unit. Deputies initiated a traffic stop, and Sanchez allegedly drove away.

The sheriff’s office said Sanchez lost control of the ATV at the intersection of Paseo Del Este Boulevard and Kilvington Street. Video showed the ATV hitting a stop sign.

After a foot chase, deputies took him into custody. The sheriff’s office booked him into the El Paso County Detention Facility for evading arrest and evading arrest with a vehicle. His bond totaled $22,500.

“ATVs do not belong on public roadways, and fleeing from deputies puts everyone nearby at risk,” said Sheriff Oscar Ugarte. “If a deputy signals you to stop, pull over safely and comply. Choosing to flee can turn a traffic stop into a serious criminal charge.”

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