Austin, TX
Austin's Soros-backed DA faces Dem challenger pledging to 'return power' to crime victims: 'Enough is enough'
A former prosecutor in the office of a progressive district attorney in Austin, Texas is running as a Democrat against his former boss and told Fox News Digital the Soros-backed DA’s policies have been “hurtful to the community” and based on political ideology rather than upholding the law.
“I noticed that there were simple things that weren’t being done and I knew that the expertise level had been so diminished with all of the prosecutors who left,” Jeremy Sylestine, a defense attorney and Travis County prosecutor for 15 years, told Fox News Digital when asked why he has decided to run against Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza.
“It just became apparent that the DA’s office wasn’t maintaining its basic functions and it seems to me that we’re seeing that in the results of cases and the numbers that we are experiencing in terms of crime right now.”
DA Garza has been widely criticized in the community for alleged soft on crime policies and labeled a “rogue prosecutor” by those who say his office has focused on “reimaging policing” and prosecuting police officers rather than taking criminals off the streets and honoring the wishes of the families of crime victims.
FAMILY OF MURDERED TX MAN SAYS SOROS DA IGNORED THEIR WISHES, CUT DEALS WITH SUSPECTS: ‘ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED’
L- Jeremy Sylestine R – Jose Garza
Sylestine, who left Garza’s office to start his own practice in December 2021, roughly a year after Garza was sworn in, told Fox News Digital he has heard the concerns of those families and aims to “return power to the victims.”
“It seems like every day there’s a new story that comes out where someone has been left holding the bag and disrespected by the DA’s office,” Sylestine said. “I know from being a prosecutor that there are tough decisions you have to make, but the cases that I’m seeing in terms of domestic violence and sexual assault are just very incongruent with what my experience was and what I want to do is return that power to the victim because the system isn’t designed to protect their rights.
“It’s the DA’s job I think when the case is right, when the evidence is there to make sure that we’re putting our best foot forward and I think that that’s what victims and survivors want to see, is that somebody is willing to stand up and fight those hard fights.”
Sylestine, a Texas native and member of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, pointed to the fact that he is a “proud Democrat” and believes in progressive reforms but said good can come out of the system only if the tools are used “properly.”
SOROS DA PUT MURDER CASE ON ‘BACK BURNER’ BECAUSE IT DOESN’T ‘FIT’ LIBERAL AGENDA: VICTIM’S FAMILY
Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza (Travis County DA Website)
“What I’m seeing now are those tools being used in a way that’s hurtful to the community. So, you know, ignoring crime that is happening is not the answer. Going light on sentencing is not the answer. The reason I know that is I’ve tried over 75 cases to jury here in Travis County and I know how thoughtful and intelligent they are and I know that they care about this stuff.”
“So when we start taking those decisions away from them, we really don’t have the feedback that we need to prop the system up. The juries that come in and hear these cases are the backbone of the entire system and if we’re not willing to put those cases in front of them, then we are saying that their opinions don’t matter and that’s the wrong way to go about this and I think that’s exactly what this DA’s office is doing, is assuming that it knows better than the citizens here in Travis County and I want to return back to a system where we rely on the citizens to speak into it.”
Sylestine pointed to one specific example of a case where he says DA Garza ignored his obligation to protect the people of Austin which involved a homeless man named Hilario Adrian who was let back out on the street, despite violent assault charges, and then arrested once again for allegedly stabbing another homeless man to death.
AUSTIN’S SOROS-BACKED DA SLAMMED AFTER WOMAN CONVICTED IN PLOT TO MURDER IN-LAWS DODGES PRISON
District Attorney Jose Garza in Austin, TX (Photo by Spencer Selvidge for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“The guy was in jail for aggravated assault and he was alleged to have been swinging a golf club and a hatchet at someone and he went to jail,” Sylestine explained. “During that time, the DA’s office had 90 days to get a case indicted and they failed to do that. They missed their deadline. So by operation of law, he gets a dollar bond and after that gets out and commits a murder. I just think that’s so egregious that it needs to be highlighted, and it needs to be spoken about. And, you know, Mr. Garza’s going to say, well, there were other considerations. There really wasn’t. He missed his deadline. He dropped the ball and now there’s a dead man on the other side.”
“My question to Travis County is how many more of those stories do we need to hear before we say enough is enough and it’s time for change?”
Garza has pointed to the coronavirus pandemic in response to criticism about the current backlog of cases his office faces and a recent KXAN report casting doubt on the conviction rate numbers his office has put out. Sylestine says part of the problem is that Garza “ran off so many experienced prosecutors” leading to a “dearth of experience” in his office.
“Now what we see is a backlog of over 7000 cases that are now piled upon those same prosecutors who are tasked with keeping track of those deadlines and making sure that they are keeping in line with the criminal procedures that are in place,” Sylestine explained.
AUSTIN POLICE PAST AND PRESENT SOUND ALARM ON RIPPLE EFFECTS OF DEFUNDING POLICE: ‘IT’S CRUSHING MORALE’
Austin, Texas (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
“That is all feeding on itself and it creates dangerous situations. But on top of that, within those 7000 cases are other victims of crime being ignored in the meantime. So there’s been no addressing of that backlog and he’s had three years to do it. I know there was a pandemic, but he’s had three years to get it done and it’s not getting better. It’s getting worse. So I don’t know how much more time he deserves and I’m calling him to the carpet on that one right now.”
A major issue in Austin that has garnered national headlines is the cratered morale within the Austin Police Department after it was defunded by the city council in 2020 and the tense relationship between Garza’s office and police stemming from Garza’s campaign promise to prosecute police officers and the multitude of indictments he has carried out since his election.
Sylestine told Fox News Digital he is “proud” of his relationship with APD and that the relationship between the DA’s office and the police “needs some drastic remeasurement and recalibration.”
“I grew up as a prosecutor and as a young lawyer in the system, so a lot of the officers and detectives that were making up my cases when I was a younger lawyer are now in commanding positions,” Sylestine said.
‘STUNNED’ MOTHER OF DEPUTY KILLED BY MOTORIST BLASTS SOROS DA FOR NOT PURSUING CHARGES: ‘UNCONSCIONABLE’
Demonstrators face members of the Austin Police Department as they gather in downtown Austin, Texas on June 4, 2020, to protest the death of George Floyd. (AP)
“So in terms of the relationship that I have, those men and women of the force, they know my brand and they know that I’m not an APD or law enforcement apologist either. If there’s something that’s been done wrong, they know that Jeremy Sylestine will hold them accountable. But they also know that it takes good communication and trust to make those relationships work and right now, that’s fractured, and it doesn’t have to be.”
Sylestine continued, “Mr. Garza came in and had a political bullseye painted right on the chart on the backs of APD officers. They advertised for prosecutors who wanted to come in specifically to do that and if we did that with any other group, there would be an uproar over what sort of fixed mindset we were having, coming into our cases.”
Sylestine will face off with Garza in the Democratic Primary in Austin on March 5.
When asked by Fox News Digital what his pitch to undecided voters is, Sylestine said the district attorney’s office is in need of a “total shift at the top.”
SOROS-BACKED DA GIVES TEXAS MAN 10 DAYS IN JAIL FOR DUI CRASH THAT KILLED PASSENGER
George Soros, billionaire and founder of Soros Fund Management LLC, speaks during an event on day two of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. The annual Davos gathering of political leaders, top executives and celebrities runs from May 22 to 26. (Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“There is a level of ineptitude and bad policy that, when combined, are creating a really dangerous situation here in Travis County,” Sylestine said. “The DA’s office and Jose Garza in particular are going to say that Austin is one of the safest cities in America but that’s not what people are feeling. That’s certainly not what the numbers are showing. So I think that we can point to very specific cases where the DA’s office has simply not done its job.”
Sylestine said that residents “feel ignored and displaced by all of the actions of the DA’s office.”
“I’m telling people that it doesn’t have to be that way,” Sylestine said. “You can have a qualified candidate who knows Travis County, who knows Travis County juries, and still can get the job done while maintaining the progressive traditions of the office and I’m not afraid of that.”
“We always have to keep an open mind about what the system is capable of and what harms need to be repaired, what wrongs need to be righted, but at the same time, we don’t have to sacrifice public and community safety for that,” Sylestine said. “People should feel safe when they go downtown. People should feel free to be out in the world without worrying about whether they’re going to get shot on Sixth Street and that’s just not the case right now.”
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“When my friends, when my family come to visit and they say they might be going downtown, that’s not a place that I recommend they go and there’s a very specific reason for that. This all feeds on itself. When we are suffering as a community, when families suffer, when businesses suffer, it all draws in to a larger problem and I think that is part of the DA’s mission is to make sure that we are addressing that community need and that we don’t ignore the issue of community safety.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Garza’s office for comment but did not receive a response.
Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contributed to this report
Austin, TX
Lawsuit: Brianna Aguilera’s parents allege underage alcohol service at Austin tailgate contributed to daughter’s death
The parents of Brianna Aguilera have filed a lawsuit against two organizations, alleging that they served alcohol to their underage daughter which contributed to her death in Austin.
Before Aguilera fell to her death from the Rio 21 Apartments in West Campus, the lawsuit states that she attended a tailgate at the Austin Blacks Rugby Club’s facility, organized by the UT Latin Economics and Business Association.
Both the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Latin Economics and Business Association were listed as defendants in the lawsuit.
>> What we know about Texas A&M student Brianna Aguilera’s death in Austin
Even though the lawsuit states Aguilera was “noticeably intoxicated” at the tailgate, her parents argue that the defendants continued to serve her alcohol.
According to court documents, Aguilera allegedly began stumbling at the tailgate and needed help standing at times. At some point, the lawsuit said she fell into the woods and lost her phone.
After leaving the tailgate at approximately 10 p.m., court documents state Aguilera died around two hours later.
The lawsuit also accuses the defendants of negligence and gross negligence for serving alcohol to Aguilera despite her age and allegedly overserving her.
In the suit, Aguilera’s parents demanded a trial by jury and sought at least $1 million plus interest, costs and punitive damages.
Aguilera’s parents also seek damages for wrongful death, citing the defendants’ alleged misconduct.
Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who’s representing the Aguilera family, commented on the lawsuit in a Tuesday news conference.
Watch the full news conference below:
“Brianna was obviously overserved,” Buzbee said. “Even the police have concluded that she was overserved at that tailgate. She was not 21.”
Buzbee also stated that the Austin Police Department has allegedly told multiple witnesses not to talk with him and Aguilera’s parents.
“They told the three, the three individuals that were in that apartment that night when this young girl died. They told them, do not speak to Brianna’s mother or her lawyers,” Buzbee said.
He said that the lawsuit could provide a way for the witnesses to eventually come forward with information.
“By filing this lawsuit, not only will we hold accountable an entity or entities that were involved in overserving Brianna and other minors, but we will also be able to subpoena individuals and documents and video and data so we can continue our investigation,” Buzbee said.
KSAT’s sister station, KPRC, has reached out to both the Austin Blacks Rugby Club and the UT Latin Economics and Business Association for comment on the lawsuit. This story will be updated once the organizations provide a statement.
More coverage of this story on KSAT:
Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.
Austin, TX
Cedar pollen eases, but record heat builds across Central Texas
Although record-breaking heat and spring-like warmth dominated the first few days of the new year, cooler — but still warmer than normal —temperatures settled in to start the first work week of 2026.
The heat will ramp up yet again Tuesday and Wednesday, with temperatures about 20 degrees above the normal early-January high of 62 degrees.
Expect a blanket of low stratus clouds and some patchy dense fog Tuesday morning, but skies should begin clearing around lunchtime.
“In the meantime, a surface trough (of low atmospheric pressure)/dry line will push from the southern Edwards Plateau into the I-35 corridor, bringing temperatures into the lower to mid-80s,” meteorologists with the National Weather Service wrote in a forecast discussion Monday. “It is going to be very warm for this time of year, and some daily high temperature records could be broken.”
Those temperatures could rival record highs at both Austin climate observation sites, Camp Mabry and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, where the standing record is 84 degrees, set in 1989.
Behind the dry line Tuesday, drier air will move into Central Texas, leading to a slightly cooler start Wednesday under mostly to partly cloudy skies.
Morning temperatures will dip into the 50s around sunrise before climbing into the upper 70s to mid-80s by the afternoon. Those highs would surpass the record of 80 degrees set in 2008 at Camp Mabry.
Temperatures the rest of the week will remain above normal with mostly cloudy mornings but sunny afternoons.
A cold front is forecast to move across the region later in the week with a slight rain chance Thursday and Friday, but most of the rain will fall north and east of Austin. However, cooler and more seasonable weather is expected this weekend.
This past weekend, Austin experienced the highest cedar pollen counts so far this season with a count of 3,200 grains per cubic meter Saturday and a peak of 4,000 grains per cubic meter on Sunday. However, the count dropped to just over 1,000 grams per cubic meter on Monday. Humidity has been on the rise in the past few days, and winds have been much lighter. Those factors have helped “settle” the cedar pollen for the time being.
Luckily, the winds have turned southerly and are much lighter, so the pollen has settled a bit. A small chance of rain on Thursday and Friday should also help dampen cedar pollen before it becomes airborne. However, above-normal temperatures will allow tree pollen cones to continue opening, setting the stage for another pollen surge when the next breezy cold front arrives.
Austin, TX
Venezuelan oil reboot not expected to spur windfall in Texas
Texas reacts to Venezuelan leader being taken into custody
With former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro out of power, President Trump said he wants to reboot the oil industry in Venezuela. That idea has raised questions about whether it could cause a price spike at the gas pump and a downturn in the Texas oil patch region.
AUSTIN, Texas – With former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro out of power, President Trump said he wants to reboot the oil industry in Venezuela.
That idea has raised questions about whether it could cause a price spike at the gas pump and a downturn in the Texas oil patch region.
Now, a spike at the pump and a production slump in the Texas oil patch may not happen this year, but with oil prices down, a budget crunch for state lawmakers may be waiting when they return to Austin in 2027.
What they’re saying:
The situation in Venezuela is creating a lot of political uncertainty, but a Texas energy expert said he is not expecting that uncertainty to cause an oil patch crash or a gas pump pike in 2026.
Prices at the pump are low and despite some recent big swings, up and down, analysts say 2026 could see the lowest prices since the pandemic. That prediction has people like Dale Owens cautiously optimistic.
“Things change so drastically nowadays. I mean, look what’s happening with the government, so anything can affect the price. But right now I’m really happy that it’s stable,” said Owens.
There are big reasons for that local gas price stabilization, and it predates the leadership change in Venezuela, according to Ed Hirs, an Energy Fellow at the University of Houston.
“The first is that the president has asked MBS (Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) and OPEC nations to continue pumping a pace. Number one. Number two, this helps hamstring the Russian economy and its war effort. And that’s also one of the goals of not only the European Union, but of the Trump administration. And number three, we’ve got the midterm elections coming up,” said Hirs.
The price of a barrel of oil is expected to increase slightly because of the uncertainty regarding Venezuela. Texas crude oil production, according to an update released Monday, was stable in December, but state data also showed drilling permits for 2025 were at 369 and that’s down from 459 in 2024.
“When President Trump took office, oil was about $80 a barrel, today it’s under $60 a barrel. We are the high-cost producers in the global commodity oil market, and the cost of drilling these wells has gone up by between 5% and 12%, primarily because of Trump’s steel tariffs. Not only does the imported steel now cost a lot more, but domestic producers raise their So the producers in West Texas and across the Permian Basin are getting squeezed by much lower revenues, $20 a barrel less and much higher cost. It’s not a good capital investment for Wall Street,” said Hirs.
Dig deeper:
The oil industry remains a big part of the Texas economy and the state budget. State lawmakers will return to Austin in 2027 to crunch numbers for a new two-year budget.
“I think they need to be looking at the budget. So the state comptroller needs to be running the numbers now based on lower oil revenues, not only for state lands, for example, for the universities, but for the state tax receipts. And that applies to the counties and cities that rely on these revenues to keep their budgets balanced. It’s going to be lower for longer,” said Hirs.
There are also doubts about whether the Texas refineries will get a financial windfall if the Trump Administration is able to reboot the oil industry in Venezuela. There are about six refineries in Texas and Louisiana that can process the heavy crude that is located in Venezuela.
“Well, it might help keep them open. But Lyondell just closed down a 100-plus-year-old heavy crude refinery on the Houston Ship Channel because it just doesn’t make any sense to reinvest in it. And it was going to require $750, $800 million of new capital investment just to keep the plant operating at par,” said Hirs.
What’s next:
Stocks for several oil companies did increase on Monday. Chevron, at one point, had a 10% stock price surge, mainly because Chevron is the only U.S. company operating in Venezuela. Other energy-related companies also saw an increase, like Exxon, as well as industry suppliers like Baker-Hughes and Halliburton.
The action on Wall Street came after President Trump said he wants energy producers to pay for the oil production rebuild. Hirs described the administration’s plans as being “naive.”
Past attempts to rebuild another country’s oil infrastructure seem to back up the doubts raised by Hirs. In 1989, after the Soviet Union collapsed, companies like Exxon went in to rebuild — only to get kicked out later by the Russians. Hirs also noted the rebuilding effort in Iraq, started by President George W. Bush, hasn’t returned production there to pre-war levels. And it’s the same story for Libya, which was done under President Obama.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin’s Rudy Koski and previous coverage
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