Elizabeth Zavala

San Antonio

Senior Reporter at MYSA

Senior Reporter at The San Antonio Express-News

Federal Courts Reporter @ExpressNews. @txwomans alum. @NAHJ. Frmly: @dallasnews, @startelegram, @MultiView, @DentonRC. @CourierGazette. She/Her.

Articles

SAPD officers used excessive force on delivery driver, jury finds

1 week ago | expressnews.com | Elizabeth Zavala

San Antonio police officers used excessive force and conducted an unreasonable search when they forced a Dallas man out of a truck at gunpoint in 2018, a federal jury ruled. Jurors awarded $265,000 in damages to Jose Castro in the federal lawsuit, which he filed against four San Antonio police officers: Carl Kerwalla, Shawn King, Michael Thornton and Kimberly Kory. Article continues below this adNone of the officers received any disciplinary action in the case.
San Antonio woman who drove bundles of drugs into U.S. gets 8-year sentence

3 weeks ago | expressnews.com | Elizabeth Zavala

A federal judge in Laredo has sentenced a San Antonio woman to eight years in prison in a conspiracy to bring bundles of drugs into the United States from Mexico. Shania Nichele Ellis, 29, was arrested on Aug. 25 at the Gateway to the Americas International Bridge 1 in Laredo, according to a federal complaint. She told authorities she was returning home from a wedding in Mexico.
Uvalde DA files lawsuit to force agents to testify in school shooting

3 weeks ago | expressnews.com | Elizabeth Zavala

The district attorney in Uvalde County has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to force three U.S. Border Patrol agents to testify in criminal proceedings against the former chief of the school district's police force and one of its officers. Christina Mitchell, the 38th Judicial District Attorney in Uvalde, filed the lawsuit Friday against U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Feds arrest juvenile suspect in Bexar County ambush-style slaying

1 month ago | expressnews.com | Elizabeth Zavala

The U.S. Marshals Service's fugitive task force has arrested a juvenile in connection with the ambush-style slaying of a 22-year-old Converse woman who was shot outside her home in December 2023, federal officials said Monday. Susan Pamerleau, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas, announced the arrest. Federal officials did not release the age of the juvenile, who is not being identified because he is a minor.
Muslim man sues city, SAPD, says he was profiled and wrongly arrested

1 month ago | expressnews.com | Elizabeth Zavala

A San Antonio man who was pulled over in 2023 on suspicion of drunken driving has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of San Antonio, its police department, police chief and the two officers who stopped him and has alleged that he was profiled because he is Muslim. Marwan Mohammed Qashou was stopped about midnight on May 21, 2023, by an SAPD officer identified as M. Strickland and unnamed female police officer.
Man who disrobed during chase pleads guilty to agent's assault

1 month ago | expressnews.com | Elizabeth Zavala

A Mexican man has pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal agent during a chase that left the suspect wearing only his underwear and shoes. Marco Cupil-Hernandez, 21, an undocumented immigrant from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, admitted that he repeatedly struck the agent's body and face while he tried to escape his custody, Nichola Ganjei, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said in a written statement.
Man caught with 95,000 fentanyl pills gets 11 years in prison

1 month ago | expressnews.com | Elizabeth Zavala

A federal judge has sentenced a San Antonio man to more than 11 years in prison for smuggling 95,000 fentanyl pills and 35 kilograms of methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico, according to federal officials. Ruben Martinez Martinez, 22, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia in San Antonio, court records indicate. A Guadalupe County sheriff's deputy stopped Martinez on Sept. 15, 2023, on Interstate 10 for traffic violations, according to federal officials.
San Antonio man gets 9 years in prison for role in drug conspiracy

1 month ago | expressnews.com | Elizabeth Zavala

A San Antonio man has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for his role in a methamphetamine distribution ring that involved more than two dozen people, according to federal officials. James Patrick Barrett was one of 26 defendants charged in the conspiracy, according to court documents.
Doing good deed, Hill Country deputies stumble onto murder suspect

1 month ago | expressnews.com | Elizabeth Zavala

After giving a man and woman a ride to a local motel, Kerr County sheriff's deputies ended up arresting the man after learning he was wanted in Austin on a murder charge. Deputies on patrol about 4 a.m. Monday went to the 100 block of Sutherland Lane in Kerrville to investigate an abandoned Chevrolet Silverado pickup, according to a post on the Kerr County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.
Pepper the library cat gets a new home

1 month ago | expressnews.com | Elizabeth Zavala

Pepper, the now-famous feline from the Hill Country who recently was evicted from a Fredericksburg library, has found her forever home. The five-month-old cross-eyed calico had been taken in as a stray by the staff at Pioneer Memorial Library, but removed by Gillespie County Commissioners after a resident complained. She now has been been adopted by a Fredericksburg couple and their children, according to the Hill Country SPCA, which was caring for the cat after she was removed from the library.