Southeast Texas Man Arrested in Gruesome Homicide Case from 1993

In February 1993, a San Antonio teenager was sexually assaulted and killed.  Now, nearly 30 years later, officials have arrested the person they believe responsible for the gruesome murder of fifteen-year-old Emily Jeanette Garcia.

According to a release from the Southeast Texas division of the Department of Public Safety, a Brazoria man is in custody on one count of murder in the 28-year-old homicide of this San Antonio teenager Thomas Ray Galindo, 50, was arrested on Friday at his home in Brazoria by the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task Force and transferred to Comal County, where the crime occurred, on Wednesday. He is charged with killing 15-year-old Garcia in February 1993. At the time, Galindo was 21 years old and he and Garcia were acquaintances.

Garcia was living away from her mother and sister at the time and staying with friends in the northeastern part of San Antonio. She was known to hang out with friends in that area of the city and frequent pool halls. Garcia was last seen alive a few days before her death.

On February 25, Garcia’s nude body was found near Cranes Mill Road and Canyon Lake in Comal County. She had been strangled and sexually assaulted. Her body was identified in 1994 after a family member saw a local news report and contacted law enforcement.

Despite a lengthy investigation by the Comal County Sheriff’s Office, progress stalled. In 2017, the sheriff’s office renewed its investigation. In early 2021, at the request of the sheriff’s office, the Texas Rangers Unsolved Crimes Investigation Program began reviewing the case.

The initial investigation included several people Garcia was acquainted with, including Galindo. The Ranger and sheriff’s detective working on the investigation reevaluated the entire case and re-interviewed numerous people, revealing new information which ultimately led to Galindo’s arrest.

Galindo is being held in the Comal County Jail under a $100,000 bond.