TEXAS — Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is calling for an investigation by the Texas Rangers into how convicted felon Gonzalo Lopez was able to escape while being transported and kill a family of five.
Patrick says he attended the funeral of Mark Collins and his four grandsons this past weekend. The family was traveling to their cabin in Leon County. Lopez, who had been on the run for 21 days, killed them, stole their truck and later was killed in a shootout with the police about 200 miles away in Atascosa County.
Patrick also said that the cabin that Collins and his family was staying at was broken into before the killings, but the fingerprints and DNA results that matched the escaped felon did not come back in time.
"This is a crime that was preventable on several levels and should never have happened. My request for investigation is not about affixing blame, but rather to ensure TDCJ procedures and protocols are adequate and always followed. There must be accountability,” Patrick said.
Some questions he wants further investigated include:
- How did the prisoner, who was handcuffed and locked in a secure cage inside the prison bus, remove his handcuffs, escape the cage and attack the driver?
- How did the second guard in the back of the bus not see what was happening?
- Was the prisoner fully searched as protocol required before getting on the bus?
- How was the escapee able to elude hundreds of law enforcement, bloodhounds and air patrols for several weeks?
- Was the community put on high alert after a cabin near the Collins family cabin was broken into a few days prior to their murder?
"TDCJ has already announced and made changes effective immediately to their protocol of moving dangerous criminals in the future. TDCJ is also conducting an internal investigation. However, I want an independent investigation of the escape and what occurred during those 21 days that resulted in the murder of this precious family,” said Patrick.
He added that questions must be answered so that no tragedy like this will happen to another family.