Luna County Pays $7 Million After Deputy Driving 130 MPH Kills 14-Month-Old

On a stretch of State Highway 11 between Deming and Columbus, New Mexico, in November 2023, Luna County Sheriff's Office Corporal Paul Garcia accelerated his department Dodge Durango past 130 mph while responding to a reported robbery. The posted speed limit on that road is 55 mph, and county policy capped emergency speeds at 20 mph above the limit. Garcia was traveling more than twice that cap when he crossed into oncoming lanes to pass another vehicle and slammed into the car driven by Isabella Hernandez.

The impact sent Hernandez's car flying roughly 200 feet before it came to rest against a fence. Her 14-month-old son, Wyatt Franzoy, died from his injuries. Hernandez survived but sustained nerve damage, liver bleeding, multiple fractures, and chronic pain that persisted well after the crash.

Attorney Daisy Chaparro Cavazos of Tawney, Acosta & Chaparro P.C. represented the Hernandez-Franzoy family in the civil case against Luna County. The firm argued that Garcia's speed was not an emergency calculation gone wrong but a foreseeable outcome of inadequate supervision and training. Dash-cam footage confirmed Garcia's speed exceeded 131 mph in the moments before impact, with a recorded 99 mph at the moment of collision.

Luna County approved a $7 million settlement in November 2024, funded through a combination of $2 million from the county's general fund and $5 million from the New Mexico Counties insurance pool. The settlement resolved all civil claims on behalf of the family.

On the criminal side, Garcia was charged with vehicular homicide and great bodily injury by reckless driving, both third-degree felonies. Because the small Deming community presented conflict-of-interest concerns for local prosecutors, the Alamogordo District Attorney's office took over the case. Garcia was terminated from the sheriff's office approximately 11 months after the crash and faced a jury trial scheduled for August 2025. A prior 2016 aggravated DWI conviction was also part of his record.