Woman found dead at S.A. homeless camp
Police say it was sudden, but not suspicious
Noel Garza was worried Wednesday night about the elderly woman who shared his tent under Interstate 37.
Her chronic pain was flaring up and she was short of breath, the 54year-old homeless man said. Garza said he wanted to take her to the hospital but she refused.
Thursday morning, he woke up to find she had died in her sleep.
“It’s time to go to therapy,” he recalled saying as he tried to shake her awake. When she didn’t respond all he could say was, “oh, my gosh, no, no, no.”
The woman, believed to have been in her 70s, appeared to have died of natural causes, San Antonio police said, but an autopsy was ordered. Her name was not released pending notification of next of kin.
SAPD’S Homicide Unit investigated, as is standard protocol when sudden deaths occur, but police said her death didn’t appear to be suspicious.
Garza said he had been sharing his tent with the woman for about eight months, getting food and clothes for her, tending to her personal needs.
“I took care of her,” Garza said, wiping tears from his eyes. “I wanted to help her as much as I could.”
Life under the bridge can be difficult, especially for someone who is older, said Dawn White-fosdick, of Christian Assistance Ministry.
“Living in the tent under there in these dire circumstances — even if somebody didn’t hurt her — her ability to get help and live was certainly impeded by where she was living,” White-fosdick said.
“Under the bridge, with that many unsheltered homeless and violent outbursts, even though she died of natural causes, I don’t think that’s the best place,” she added. “We’re hoping that we can create some better opportunities.”
Garza, who has asthma and said he has been homeless for about 10 to 11 months, said he first met the woman on the steps of a nearby church. She asked if she could stay with him.
“I live on the streets, too,” he told her.
But she didn’t care. “I just don’t want to be by myself,” she told him.
Homeless outreach providers were first worried that the woman died because someone had caused her harm, according to White-fosdick.
“We had seen her in fights with people before,” White-fosdick said.
Garza agreed that the woman was stubborn and loved to argue — most recently about refusing to get medical attention — but he and others said she could also be kind and loved to joke around.
“She was like my mom,” Garza said. “I loved her.”