Murder suspect’s bond reduced

A Gonzales County man who shot and killed another during a deadly argument near Nixon had his bond reduced last month by 25^th District Judge William Old III.

Samuel Garcia-Mendiola faces a charge of murder in connection with the shooting death of Jose Robles Quintana on Sunday, May 28. Old reduced his bond from $750,000 to a $500,000 cash/surety bond during a pre-trial hearing on Sept. 20 at the Gonzales County Courthouse. All other pretrial motions for Garcia-Mendiola, who is being represented by attorney Travis Hill, were reset for Oct. 18.

According to Gonzales County Sheriff’s deputies, the GCSO received a call at 12:54 a.m. Sunday about shots being fired in the 100 block of County Road 168, which is off Texas Highway 80 near Clear Fork Creek, north of the Nixon-Smiley High School campus.

Upon arrival, deputies found the body of a gunshot victim later identified as Robles Quintana. He was pronounced dead at the scene. A second individual who reportedly had been assaulted during an altercation with Robles Quintana — later identified as Garcia-Mendiola — was transported to Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) for treatment of injuries.

After determining that Garcia-Mendiola had shot and killed Robles Quintana, Gonzales County Sheriff’s deputies and the Texas Rangers, who were investigating the incident, arrested Garcia-Mendiola and charged him with murder.