A 59-year-old man is serving at least two years in prison for taking the credit card of a woman who died on his porch.
Joe Cruz Garza, of Pasco, was previously accused of allowing Breanna Gooldy, 24, to die on the porch of a manufactured home in November 2022.
While he had initially been charged with murder in connection with the death, those charges were dropped. More than a year later, prosecutors charged him with violating a no contact order and stealing her identity.
He recently admitted in Franklin County Superior Court to committing those crimes, brining an end to a four-year saga that included sudden charges, the prosecutor’s office being fined and murder charges being dropped.
Garza, who has struggled with fentanyl and meth addictions, has a lengthy criminal history and faced five years in prison.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to let him serve his time in a drug offender sentencing alternative. He will spend two years in prison and another two years being monitored and treated for his drug addiction.
His defense attorney, Michael Nguyen, said Garza’s struggles started when he was 15, and when he doesn’t have access to drugs he’s well-respected. The defense attorney pointed out that Garza has been a model inmate, which was supported by letters from jail staff.
“He never had any formal treatment,” Nguyen said. “I think having a structured treatment would give us this version of Joe (that they are seeing in the jail).”
Judge Norma Rodriguez followed the recommendation, saying she believes he has a good foundation to start building on.
“I think it’s time for you to get clean and sober and realize what life is like,” she said. Pasco woman’s death
Garza and Gooldy had a troubled relationship leading to Garza, then 56, being ordered by the court to stay away from her in October 2022, court documents said.
But witnesses said it wasn’t long before Gooldy was staying at his travel trailer behind a Pasco convenience store.
A witness reported that two days before she died, Garza had hit Gooldy in the face, injuring her. She allegedly told a witness that Garza was mean, and he was going to kill her, according to court documents.
On Nov. 5, 2022, Garza claims Goodly was “tripping” inside his trailer. She began breaking things before crawling outside. He claims she hurt herself in the process.
He said he tried to get her to come back inside, but she fought him off. Another man told police he tried to help Garza bring her inside, but they couldn’t move her.
The men put a blanket over her and left her outside. Security camera footage showed Garza go outside several times between 1:30 a.m. and 6:20 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2022, court documents said.
When Gooldy stopped responding to him and felt cold to the touch, he called 911.
He told investigators he waited to call for help because he didn’t want to go to jail for violating the court order.
Police found her wrapped in two “extremely” damp blankets and a curtain. Her body temperature had dropped to near 70 degrees. She was taken to a local hospital, but died 11 days later.
Court documents don’t explain how Garza used Gooldy’s identity, but it happened on the day she was found outside his home. Charges and delays
After Gooldy died, Garza was initially arrested for violating the protection order.
The autopsy determined that her injuries didn’t cause her death, so Pasco police said they believed Garza should be charged with manslaughter.
In the meantime, his attorney argued that Garza should be allowed to be released without bail, saying most of his convictions were old and non-violent offenses, such as drug possession and car theft.
However, then Deputy Prosecutor Frank Jenny argued at the time that Garza had 69 convictions over the years and judges needed to issue many warrants to get him to court.
The prosecution’s delay in turning over evidence to the defense led Superior Court Judge Diana Ruff to release Garza.
Garza spent nearly two months in jail. Just eight days before his trial on the protection order violation was set to begin, prosecutors turned over the evidence they planned to present.
On Jan. 9, 2023, four days after Garza was released from jail, prosecutors charged him with murder and he was rearrested.
Three days later on Jan. 12, 2023, prosecutors asked to pull back the murder charge but with the option to refile it, and Garza was released from jail again.
Garza’s attorney at the time, Charlie Dow, argued that prosecutors shouldn’t be allowed to refile the case. Judge Norma Rodriguez disagreed and allowed the prosecutors to drop the charges in a way that they could be refiled.
The identity theft and protection order violation charges were filed nearly a year later in 2024.
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