Suspect in fatal hit-and-run to stay in jail
A former San Antonio Independent School District employee accused of murder in the death of a woman who was run over twice will remain in jail after a judge denied a request to reduce the defendant’s bail.
Family members of Cynthia Gomez screamed “yes” when Judge Frank J. Castro told Christopher Moreno’s attorney that he would not lower the $300,000 bail.
Moreno, an SAISD bus driver since 2017, was terminated after his arrest seven months after the incident. The woman’s death occurred while he was off duty.
He is awaiting indictment on a murder charge in the killing of Gomez, 48. Her body was found around 5 a.m. Jan. 13 in a driveway in the 8400 block of New Laredo Highway on the Southwest Side.
An arrest affidavit stated surveillance video from several area businesses led authorities to believe Moreno picked up Gomez while she was walking on Southwest Military Drive, and moments later, pushed her out of the car, ran over her twice and left the scene.
Under direct questioning by defense attorney Robert Maurer, Moreno’s brother-in-law told the judge that he checked with several bail bond companies and that Moreno’s family was having problems raising $30,000 — the required 10 percent of the total bail amount.
Carl Wade said the family could sell a car, but the most they could come up with would be $6,000.
Prosecutor Michelle Haden told the court the amount fit the crime because of its severity. “This was a random person,” Haden told the judge, referring to Gomez. “He ran over her not once, but twice. These were horrific injuries.”
Castro declined to reduce the bail and said he would review the case in two months if Moreno has not yet been indicted.