Precinct 6 withholds records in fatal crash despite state ruling for their release
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Brenda Resendez's life hasn't been the same since her 28-year-old brother, Ricardo Resendez Jr., was killed six months ago just a block away from his home in Houston's East End.
A search warrant states that Rigo Vivar drove on the wrong side of the road and fatally hit Resendez.
Vivar was an off-duty Harris County Precinct 6 deputy at the time of the incident. He was fired from his government job shortly afterward, but he was not arrested.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office told 13 Investigates in late September that criminally negligent homicide or manslaughter charges would be presented before a grand jury, but that hasn't happened yet.
"We haven't really gotten anywhere," Brenda Resendez said. "The investigators that were in charge of the case haven't gotten back to us about getting certain evidence back, and we really haven't gone anywhere, so our life has stood completely still since August 24th, 2024."
Shortly after Resendez died, 13 Investigates filed 18 requests under the Texas Public Information Act for information from Harris County Precinct 6's Office.
Eyewitness News wanted to know everything from Vivar's driving history with Precinct 6 to his text messages and emails from his government-issued devices in the days after the crash.
RELATED: Fired Harris Co. Precinct 6 constable deputy apologizes after deadly wrong-way crash
However, despite a ruling from the Texas Attorney General to release some of the basic information that was asked for, Precinct 6 has yet to do so.
"It feels like it's compounding," Brenda said. "It's mind-boggling that we have to keep asking people that are in charge of the law and of enforcing the law to not break the law."
13 Investigates is highlighting our struggles for public information in that case, this Sunshine Week, a nationwide week dedicated to "shining the light" on the importance of public records and open government.
From the very start, Precinct 6 dragged out the process of releasing the documents, asking us to narrow our request to shorter timeframes.
When we provided them with a response, they eventually gave us a nearly $11,000 cost estimate to fulfill nine of our requests.
After debating the cost, Precinct 6 eventually wrote to the Texas Attorney General's Office, saying they could not release any information because the crash was under investigation.
But, the AG's Office disagreed with withholding everything and said Precinct 6 must release a redacted report on the crash.
We told Precinct 6 about the AG's decision in November and asked for the documents they're required to release. But now, months later, they have failed to comply and have not released them.
"I haven't been able to get any closure at all, and just even trying to process or believe that my brother's gone when it doesn't feel like it's important or a reality to anyone else who it needs to be important to," Brenda said. "That's just honestly very sad and quite disgusting."
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