Category: San Antonio News

Although the election fraud case against Medina County Pct. 4 Justice of the Peace Tomas Ramirez III was dismissed in late December, he found himself arrested again earlier this month after the charges were refiled.

Records showed Ramirez was arrested on the election charges on Jan. 15. Because of the arrest, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued an order suspending Ramirez from his elected duties on Wednesday, according to documents obtained by KSAT 12 News.

Ramirez was first arrested on Feb. 13, 2021. The arrest was touted by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

However, after months of delays, a judge dismissed those charges against Ramirez in December.

It’s unclear why the attorney general’s office refiled the charges against Ramirez, who is charged with one count of engaging in organized election fraud, 17 counts of unlawful possession of a ballot or ballot envelope and 17 counts of unlawfully assisting voter voting by mail.

After the initial charges were dropped, Ramirez issued a lengthy statement against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, chalking up his arrest to Paxton’s efforts to find election fraud in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

“I can never be fully free from the ramifications of Paxton’s decision to unjustly and maliciously prosecute me,” Ramirez wrote.

Ramirez has filed to run for reelection in the 2022 midterm. He will be facing three other candidates in the Republican primary.

Late last year, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued an opinion that confirmed the attorney general cannot unilaterally prosecute election cases. Instead, the attorney general can only investigate a case when asked to by county and district attorneys. It’s unclear if that ruling will affect Ramirez’s case.

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Some KSAT pets might not be feeling too frisky due to the cold weather but they sure look cute all bundled up.

Pet owners submitted photos of their four-legged family members to KSAT PINS and we’re sharing some of them with you below.

Before we get to the good stuff — if you haven’t downloaded the KSAT weather app yet, you’re missing out. It’ll give you live weather updates, severe weather alerts, pollen count and more from your KSAT 12 meteorologists.

Now for the snuggly stuff:

A San Antonio-area woman charged with drunk driving six times in four counties has so far avoided a lengthy prison sentence, despite picking up additional charges last fall while on probation for felony DWI.

Karon Shouse, 57, faces felony charges of DWI-3rd or more and evading arrest with a motor vehicle in Kendall County, after investigators in September 2021 said she drove the wrong way down a street, nearly struck a man with her vehicle and then refused to stop for a Fair Oaks Ranch police officer who attempted to pull her over.

The latest instance follows Shouse pleading guilty to a felony DWI in September 2019 in Comal County. Then, prosecutors filed a motion to revoke her probation but Shouse was instead sent to a state treatment facility, community supervision records show.

One source familiar with Shouse’s legal problems called the Comal County court’s decision surprising, since Shouse has pending felony charges and her stay at a Texas Department of Criminal Justice treatment facility cannot extend beyond 120 days.

Shouse is also accused of crashing into another vehicle during the Kendall County incident in 2021, according to a seizure order filed in October to take possession of Shouse’s vehicle.

Separate breath specimens provided by Shouse came back with blood alcohol content (BAC) levels of .315 and .308, nearly four times the legal limit to drive in Texas, Kendall County records show.

Shouse, who was required to have an ignition interlock device installed on any vehicle she operated as part of the 2019 DWI plea agreement in Comal County, was driving a vehicle without one the night of her arrest in Kendall County.

History of DWI started in Bexar County

For Shouse, her Kendall County arrest was her sixth time being charged with DWI since 2006, according to records compiled by the KSAT 12 Defenders from four area counties.

Shouse racked up three DWI charges in a five-month period in Bexar County, misdemeanor court records obtained by the Defenders show.

Shouse was first charged with DWI in Bexar County in February 2006, while under investigation for a separate November 2004 drunk driving incident, according to court records.

Shouse was eventually charged in the initial 2004 case, in April 2006, 17 months after San Antonio police said her vehicle struck a guardrail while driving along Loop 1604 North, according to charging paperwork.

Shouse, who failed a standard field sobriety test and provided a breath specimen with a BAC over .08, suffered a cut to her head during the crash.

Magistrate officials refused to accept her for booking after her arrest and instead sent her to a hospital to be treated, causing the misdemeanor case to be filed against her more than a year later, records show.

Shouse was then charged with DWI-open container and driving while license invalid in July 2006, after officers said a cup of wine was found in her possession while she was driving drunk, court records show.

Shouse was found guilty in April 2007 as part of a negotiated plea that called for the February 2006 charge to be dismissed and for her to plead no contest in the July 2006 case, records show.

Months before signing the plea agreement, however, in January 2007, Shouse was found to have violated the conditions of her pretrial release, after an ignition interlock device determined Shouse had alcohol present on her breath while her vehicle was running.

Shouse was eventually sentenced to 14 months of probation and ordered to pay fines and court costs, records show.

Trouble elsewhere

Two years later, in June 2009, Shouse was booked for felony DWI in Hays County.

Shouse pleaded guilty in January 2010 and was ordered to serve 90 days in jail as part of a work-release program, court records show.

The program, which called for Shouse to be released from jail on weekday mornings and to return at night, was later shortened to 66 days from the original 90, records show.

In August 2018 Shouse was again arrested for felony DWI, this time in Comal County.

In exchange for pleading guilty in September 2019, a ten-year prison sentence was set aside and Shouse was instead given ten years of probation, ordered to serve 960 hours of community service and serve 10 days in the county jail, a copy of the plea agreement shows.

After Shouse’s latest arrest in Kendall County, she was booked back into the Comal County Jail on Nov. 23, Comal County officials said.

Shouse was transferred from the Comal County Jail to the East Texas Treatment Facility on Jan. 5, court records show.

Officials have not said what awaits Shouse after she is released from the TDCJ treatment center, which will happen in early May at the latest.

Shouse’s only requirement after her release is to report back to the Comal County Community Supervision and Corrections Department, court records show.

Comal County District Attorney Jennifer Tharp did not respond to a phone call seeking comment for this story. A woman who identified herself as the DA’s office manager said via telephone this month, “We don’t discuss cases with anyone outside of defense attorneys.”

Shouse’s criminal defense attorney did not respond to multiple phone calls seeking comment for this story.

James Preston Green

Shouse’s legal journey bears some similarities to James Preston Green, who at first avoided jail time despite racking up four DWI convictions.

The lenient treatment of Green, the son of a prominent San Antonio jeweler, was first exposed by the Defenders in November 2018.

Weeks after the investigation was published, in December 2018, a district court judge signed off on a motion to revoke Green’s probation.

Green was sentenced to six years in prison in early January 2019, but was released in November after serving less than half of his sentence, Bexar County court records show.

Educating the community about the atrocities and remembering its victims are the goals behind the San Antonio Public Library and the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio’s “The Holocaust: Learn & Remember” series.

Standing up and doing the right thing is what Nammie Ichilov, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio, believes is crucial for humanity and the reason behind the month-long series. The series will include both in-person and online programs and exhibitions.

“To let things happen is just not acceptable,” Ichilov said. “We’ve got to be able to make a difference, whatever we can do in our capacity.”

The Holocaust Memorial Museum is actually in the Jewish Community Center Campus and it is where you can see several images and artifacts highlighting the Jewish culture and Holocaust.

“The theme this year is immigration and refugees, so we’re focusing on people who were displaced by the Holocaust, the people who moved to other countries during the Holocaust,” Scott Williams, community and public relations manager of the San Antonio Public Library said.

Presently, there is an exhibition at the Westfall Branch Library, located at 611 Rosedale Court, that is highlighting displaced people from the Holocaust and their resilience. The week will culminate with a speaker event on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, on Jan. 27.

“It’s really critically important that we as a community and as a people, step back and take a moment to reflect and learn about what’s happened in our recent history, so that we can try our best to avoid it happening again,” Williams said.

Ichilov said especially with recent events at a Dallas area synagogue and even with local antisemitic material and protests that occurred in October of last year, it is more important than ever to remember and learn from the past to become better as a society.

“We work really hard at making sure that people understand that standing up for anybody, standing up for any minority group, standing up for any group that needs support is a critical aspect of just being a human being,” Ichilov said.

The driver of a United States Postal Service truck avoided serious injury after crashing into a building early Friday morning, the Castle Hills Police Department said.

The incident occurred around 4:40 a.m. at the Blanco Junction Shopping Center on the access road of Loop 410, just before Blanco Road.

According to Castle Hills police, the driver of a USPS truck fell asleep at the wheel and crashed into a vascular clinic. It is unclear if the driver was coming off a shift, or just starting his route.

The front of the truck made into the building, but the driver avoided serious injury, police said. No other injuries were reported.

Firefighters with San Antonio Fire Department are now looking into the extent of the damage from the inside.

The driver, a man in his 50s, was taken by EMS to University Hospital, to be checked out as a precaution. He is expected to be OK.

San Antonio police are searching for a suspect following a home invasion on the city’s West Side early Friday morning.

Officers were called around 2:40 a.m. to a home in the 600 block of North San Bernardo Avenue, not far from North General McMullen Drive after receiving word of a person wounded.

According to police, a woman in her 80s was sleeping in her bed when an intruder armed with a knife broke into her home through the back door.

Police said the intruder woke her up and demanded cash. The woman gave the man roughly $900, but he still tied up her hands, police said.

SAPD after she pleaded with the intruder to live he stabbed her in the hand before fleeing. The suspect has not been found.

The woman was taken by EMS to University Hospital, where she is listed in stable condition.

SAPD did not give a description of the suspect. The investigation is ongoing, police said.

This week in San Antonio business bankruptcies include Global Windcrest I LLC. For the year, San Antonio has recorded 1 business bankruptcy filings.

The residents of a North Side home were displaced for the night following a house fire early Friday morning, the San Antonio Fire Department said.

The fire was called in around 2:30 a.m. at a home in the 1500 block of West Wildwood, not far from West Avenue and Interstate 10.

Firefighters said they arrived to find a CPS Energy meter arcing on the side of a house. The arcing caused a grass fire and was near the edge of the roof, fire officials said.

Firefighters managed to put out the fire and got into the attic to make sure there was no extension into the home. Everyone got out of the house safely and no injuries were reported, fire officials said.

The residents of the home however, had to be displaced for the night.

Fire crews had to wait on CPS Energy officials to arrive to cut the power to the home.

Both the San Antonio Fire Department and San Antonio Police Department originally answered the call.

A damage estimate to the home was not given.

Meals on Wheels San Antonio is scheduled to deliver winter storm meal kits to 4,500 customers this Saturday.

The kits come with five meals that don’t need to be heated. They will also include disposable hand warmers, water and thermal blankets.

Meals on Wheels said the kits are meant to be stored if there is a weather emergency.

The organization still needs volunteers to help deliver these emergency kits. Anyone interested in signing up can do so at mowsatx.org.

Registration will stay open until Friday afternoon.

It’s been one month since 3-year-old Lina Khil disappeared, and police have no leads on her whereabouts and are still calling this a missing person’s case. Her family is asking whoever has her to return her to a safe place.

Riaz Khil, Lina’s father, said his home is filled with sorrow and sadness since Lina disappeared on Dec. 20 from outside the family’s home at Villas del Cabo apartments. Lina’s mother, the last person to see her, says she just wants her daughter back.

“She’s very unhappy, and she is very sad and crying all the time, all the time. When she’s sitting at room or apartment, she’s crying and wants Lina back home,” said Riaz Khil through translator Lawang Mangal.

RELATED: Photo shows clothing, jewelry that missing 3-year-old Lina Khil was wearing the day she disappeared

Khil, who will turn 4 years old next month, is described as a happy toddler who loves to play makeovers with her friends.

“She had the makeup tools and dolls, and most of all, she liked to wear red dresses — red traditional dress. So she liked the red color very much. She was a lovable girl,” Riaz Khil said.

After weeks of searches, San Antonio police have no leads and still call it a missing person’s case.

Lina’s parents are still hopeful that she will be found alive. The family remembers a lot of activity around the apartment complex with people coming in to make repairs, but they can’t say for sure if she was taken.

There’s a $150,000 reward for information that leads to the child’s whereabouts. Riaz Khil is asking that whoever has her come forward and collect the reward.

“Just leave her somewhere in a safe place and go,” he said. “There’s no offense. There is no revenge, and I will forgive him from my heart. Just return Lina back.”

Lina has a 2-year-old brother, and her mother is expecting another child in the summer. Her family continues to wait on information related to her disappearance. Anyone with information is asked to call SAPD Missing Person’s Unit at 210-207-7660.

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