‘Welcome to Texas. Here’s your Death Penalty’: Gov. Greg Abbott calls for death penalty in Grapevine Lake jet ski crash

TEXAS – Texas Governor Greg Abbott took to social media to comment on the death of a kayaker who was killed on Lake Grapevine by a jet ski.

The two suspects charged in the fatal accident are now behind bars, and their immigration status in the U.S. is in question after both were described as “illegal”, according to the Texas Attorney General.

READ: Woman accused of killing kayaker on Lake Grapevine with jet ski, fleeing scene

One suspect, Daikerlyn Alejandra Gonzalez Gonzalez of Venezuela, has been named.

Details of the fatal crash

According to Grapevine Police, Gonzalez Gonzalez is accused of hitting 18-year-old Ava Moore with a jet ski while she was kayaking. They stated she was operating the personal watercraft with another person, who stayed at the scene, but Gonzalez Gonzalez fled with an unidentified man.

Despite life-saving efforts from witnesses and first responders, Moore died from her injuries while on the way to the hospital.

Grapevine Police reported that while Gonzalez Gonzalez and the unidentified man attempted to flee, they hit another car and were on the run, but she was caught on Tuesday.

It’s unclear when the man who helped her flee was arrested, but the Attorney General’s office described him as “another illegal.”

Texas governor’s response

Since then, Abbott reposted a tweet regarding the story and immigration status of the suspects, saying, “Welcome to Texas. Here’s your death penalty.”

The governor’s post received more than 35,000 likes and over 1,300 replies.

In Texas, the death penalty only applies to those charged with capital murder, which is defined as intentionally or knowingly causing the death of an individual under specific circumstances. In this case, the suspects are facing manslaughter charges, which do not include the death penalty.

The executive director of FIEL, Cesar Espinosa, responded to the governor’s tweet calling for the death penalty.

Espinosa said Abbott is politicizing this fatal incident by bringing up the immigration status of the suspect and calling for the death penalty was irresponsible and could lead people to act on their own recourse.

Read Espinosa’s full response below:

“First and foremost, our condolences go out to the Moore family as they have to deal with this insurmountable tragedy. This should have never happened, and those responsible for the accident, as well as the subsequent actions they prompted, should face the law. What we condemn is the Governor politicizing this and automatically bringing up the immigration status of the perpetrator as the front-facing issue. Also, the context in which Abbott spoke about this can be left very open to interpretation. Calling publicly for the death penalty in such an irresponsible manner, we fear it could lead people to act on their own recourse. We want to remind our fellow Texans that immigrants are hardworking people who live their lives down the straight and narrow path. We must not fall victim to the propaganda and make generalizations about immigrants. Words matter, and far too often Abbott uses words in a careless manner.”