Kaci Koviak:AS WE CONTINUE OUR
TEAM COVERAGE ABOUT TODAY'S
DECISION...JUST FIVE DAYS
AFTER HER DISAPPEARANCE,
INVESTIGATORS FOUND KAYLA'S
BODY.BUT SINCE THEN, IT HAS
TAKEN NEARLY THREE YEARS FOR
SOME SORT OF JUSTICE TO BE
SERVED.THIS EVENING, WE TAKE A
LOOK BACK AT THE TIMELINE OF
THIS TRAGEDY.
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TUESDAY NIGHT, NOVEMBER FIRST,
2016."She was sitting in the
lobby while everyone was
praying, then prayer was over
and my mom went outside
looking for her and she
couldn't find her."KAYLA GOMEZ
WAS LAST SEEN AT HER CHURCH,
BULLARD FIRST ASSEMBLY OF GOD
OFF HIGHWAY 69.K-9'S,POLICE
OFFICERS,SHERIFF'S DEPUTIES,
THE MOST EXPERIENCED
INVESTIGATORS ALL CALLED IN TO
SEARCH FOR THIS LITTLE GIRL.
James Campbell//Cherokee
County Sheriff"we have the fbi
and the texas rangers here now"
HER FAMILY SAYS WAS THE
OPPOSITE OF A TROUBLE MAKER.
RUNNING AWAY WOULD BE
COMPLETELY OUT OF CHARACTER.
"They say she is a very
RESPONSIBLE young lady. she
has never run off before."THE
INTENSE CANVAS OF THE AREA
STARTED THAT NIGHT,"They have
been searching for 2-3 hours.
Covered alot of area. and
still nothing at this time.BUT
IT WOULDN'T END FOR FIVE MORE
DAYS.A SEARCH THAT UNITED A
COMMUNITY.AS THE NEWS SPREAD...
WHAT CONCERNED EAST TEXANS
MOST,áánats of an amber alertáá
THEY NEVER RECEIVED AN AMBER
ALERT.Marissa Boerger/neighbor
"umm as soon as we heard she
was missing and she was our
next door neighbor and we knew
her yeah we looked and there
was no amber alert there was
nothing it was on social media
but my phone never went off
there was no loud crazy sound
there was no alarm nothing. "
D-P-S DID ISSUE ONE,BUT SAID
IT WASN'T IN THEIR POWER TO
PUSH AMBER ALERTS OUT TO CELL
PHONES.A STATE SPOKESMAN SAID
THEY SEND THE INFORMATION TO
THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR
MISSING AND EXPLOITED
CHILDREN. THEIR POLICY
REQUIRES A FULL VEHICLE
DESCRIPTION BEFORE SENDING THE
ALERT. IN THIS CASE, THERE WAS
NO LICENSE PLATE INFORMATION
AVAILABLE. BUT HOPE WAS NOT
LOST FOR KAYLA'S FAMILY AND
FRIENDS.Marissa
Boerger/neighborShe is a very
very sweet young lady. She's
very close to her family.
She's precious, I mean every
child is precious but she's
the kind of kid you want your
children to hang out with I
mean she's just a really good
girl.HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE
GATHERED TO PRAY,Delano
Guevara, Tyler resident: I've
got two young daughters in
that same age group and I
can't even begin to feel, even
fathom, the amount of pain
that they're feeling right
now. THREE DAYS LATER,
CRIMESTOPPERS INCREASED THE
REWARD FOR ANY INFORMATION TO
60-THOUSAND DOLLARS...THANKS
TO A DONATION BY LOCALLY OWNED
JOHN SOULES FOODS.OTHER LOCAL
BUSINESSES SHOWED SUPPORT BY
WEARING PINK, KAYLA'S FAVORITE
COLOR.ONE RESTAURANT EVENT
RAISING MONEY, TOO.Kristi
Boone Bassinder://Daniel
Boone's You feel pretty
helpless when a situation like
this comes up for the city,
and our hearts go out to this
family.SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH,
THE F-B-I EXPANDED THE SEARCH,
TO INCLUDE MEMBERS OF THE
COMMUNITY.HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE
SHOWING THEIR SUPPORT."if I
can help this family find
their children, then that's
why we're here.""Children are
our life out here. We're out
here to show our support for
kayla."A FEW HOURS LATER...
FIVE DAYS AFTER KAYLA
VANISHED, THE MOMENT EVERYONE
FEARED. HER BODY FOUND IN A
WELL ON THE FAMILY'S
PROPERTY...JUST A FEW MILES
FROM THE CHURCH WHERE SHE WAS
LAST SEEN.ON SUNDAY, THEN
24-YEAR-OLD "GUSTAVO ZAVALA --
GARCIA", TAKEN INTO CUSTODY.
"He voluntarily accompanied
law enforcement to be
interview. After being
interviewed a federal
immigration detainer was
issued."BUT THIS WAS NOT HIS
FIRST RUN-IN WITH THE LAW.BACK
IN 2015, HE WAS ARRESTED FOR
ASSAULTING A RELATIVE,
DEPORTED, THEN RETURNED.BUT
EVEN IN DEATH,THE COMMUNITY
REMEMBERED THE BRIGHT LIGHT OF
KAYLA IN HER 10 SHORT YEARS.
"Happy, bubbly and she had a
love for Christ."PINK RIBBONS
TIED AROUND EACH MAILBOX IN
HER NEIGHBORHOOD...A SIMPLE
REMINDER THAT KAYLA'S SMILE
LIVES ON.Kenneth Gomez,
Kayla's brother:Come sweep me
up in your love again. And my
soul will dance on the wings
of forever. I read this and I
said to myself
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is it possible, it seems she
knew her time was coming.THE
FOLLOWING WEEK,ZAVALA-GARCIA
WAS CHARGED WITH CAPITAL
MURDER,DURING A POLYGRAPH
TEST, HE ADMITTED KILLING HER,
BUT LATER RECANTED. ALTHOUGH
HE WAS IN THE U-S ILLEGALLY,HE
WAS GIVEN THE SAME RIGHTS
CITIZENS HAVE, WHILE GOING TO
TRIAL.Blake Bailey//Bailey Law
Firm"The court is gonna try it
here, they're gonna assume
jurisdiction because someone
in the United States was the
victim and they're gonna try
him here."JUSTICE DRAGGED ON
SLOWLY. AND THAT TRIAL WOULD
NEVER COME. IT WAS ORIGINALLY
SET FOR AUGUST, 2017.THEN
DELAYED FIVE TIMES.DUE TO
D-N-A TESTS TAKING LONGER THAN
EXPECTED."The damand for dna
testing in criminal court case
has increased drastically in
the last 20 years."THEN SMITH
COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY "MATT
BINGHAM" REQUESTED THE TRIAL
BE MOVED TO 20-19,WHEN NEWLY
ELECTED D-A "JACOB PUTMAN"
WOULD BE TAKING OVER."Hoping
they will give more funding
to dps. Not just for that case
but for a lot of our cases we
are waiting on dna testing."
FINALLY, HIS TRIAL WAS
SCHEDULED FOR MARCH, 2020.BUT
THE FAMILY DIDN'T HAVE TO WAIT
THAT LONG FOR A VERDICT.
GUSTAVO ZAVALA- GARCIA PLED
GUILTY IN COURT THURSDAY
MORNING,ánats of courtroom
this morningáHE WILL SERVE
LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE,AND WAIVED
HIS RIGHT TO AN APPEAL.JUST
TWO WEEKS UNTIL WHAT WOULD
HAVE BEEN KAYLA'S 12-TH
BIRTHDAY,JUSTICE HAS FINALLY
BEEN SERVED.
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