San Angelo man takes plea deal in shooting death of Brady teen, jail assault
SAN ANGELO — More than a year after a Brady teenager was fatally shot outside a San Angelo residence during a party on the city's northside, a man has been sentenced to decades in prison.
On Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2021, Arturo Garcia Jr., 19, attended a plea hearing in the 391st District Court. He has been indicted in the 2020 death of Sam Dagen, 18, and a 2021 assault on correctional officers.
Garcia pleaded guilty to murder and assault. As part of the plea bargain, state prosecutors suggested 50 years in jail and a restitution of $14,682.58 in the murder charge. For the assault, prosecutors recommended 10 years in jail.
Judge Brad Goodwin followed the state's recommendations and sentenced Garcia. His sentences will run concurrently, according to court documents.
Garcia was credited 402 days to the murder sentence and 216 days in the assault.
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What we know about Sam Dagen and his death
John Samuel Dagen, 19, wanted to follow his father's footsteps after graduating Rochelle High School. His father, John L. Dagen, former McCulloch County sheriff, adopted Sam when he was 4 years old and raised him as a single father.
He and his best friend, John Bennett, played sports and hunted together. After graduation, they moved to San Angelo and Sam began studying criminal justice at Howard College.
Like many teens who leave their hometowns, Sam made new friends and started partying, according to Bennett.
Bennett last saw Sam late on Oct. 15. They both planned to leave town for a few days, Bennet would travel to Brady and Sam to Fredericksburg. Bennet didn't know Sam was in San Angelo Oct. 18 until he was woken up by a friend's phone call at 4 a.m.
"After I hung up … I got up, got in my truck and sat in the pasture for a while trying to process what I was just told," Bennett said in a January 2021 interview. "I was in shock."
John Dagen learned of the shooting that night from a flurry of callers, and was halfway to San Angelo when he received the news.
"I knew … he had been shot several times, and I was told it was pretty bad," Dagen said in a January 2021 interview. "I got about halfway (there), when the doctor told me Sam had not made it."
Sam suffered seven gunshot wounds in his back, three in his arms and one in his right leg. Several bullets were lodged in his spine, arms and thigh, according to an autopsy report.
All of the shots came from behind from a "distant" range, according to the autopsy. The shots in his back killed him.
Night of parties ends with Northside shootings
Bennet said Sam went out with friends to one party, followed by another in North San Angelo. This party in the 2800 block of Pecan Street was being monitored by police, who heard gunshots.
When they arrived, they found Dagen on his back in a pool of blood and spent .40-caliber cartridge cases at the west entrance of an alley on East 29th and Pecan Streets. More blood and bullet casings littered the alleyway.
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A shoeprint near Dagen matched Garcia, who police found at East 28th and Oaklawn streets. He told officers that he and another man were walking down the alley toward the party when "subjects" approached. The "subjects" yelled negative comments about a gang the man was a member of, records state.
Shots fired through the alleyway. Garcia's companion was injured and he took him to a backyard before fleeing the area.
A party-goer saw one man leave the house, heard gunfire, and saw the man outside "waving the handgun" and said he "emptied a whole magazine at them," records state.
That man, Haston Edward Bilbo, was arrested Oct. 18 on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. An indictment filed in April said he injured a juvenile with a firearm that day.
People who knew Sam by his family and friends, were adamant on social media that he had no ties to gang activity. Bennett agreed Sam was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Garcia, others charged in assault on jailers causing lockdown
About 6 p.m. April 22, 2021, a spokesperson with the Tom Green County Sheriff's Office said "a disturbance within the Tom Green County Detention Facility occurred within a multiple occupancy unit."
The Tom Green County Detention Center Special Operational Response Team arrived and restored order, through three correctional officers were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, records state.
Daniel Adam Cheek, Arturo Garcia Jr., Jacob Lewis Garcia and Sean Wisdom were charged with assault on a public servant. This is usually a third degree felony, punishable by up to 10 years in jail.
The charge was enhanced to a second degree felony for Cheek and habitual offender status for Jacob Garcia.
Case coverage timeline
July 29, 2021: 4 men indicted after Tom Green County correctional officers injured in 'jail disturbance'
Jan. 15, 2021: Sam Dagen: Brady teen killed at San Angelo party had plans to go into law enforcement
Dec. 21, 2020: Indictment: San Angelo man shot, killed Brady teen in October homicide
Oct. 19, 2020: Affidavits give more insight into fatal shooting on San Angelo's north side.
Oct. 18, 2020: Brady teen fatally shot in San Angelo, arrest made
Alana Edgin is a journalist covering Crime and Courts in West Texas. Send her a news tip at aedgin@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: San Angelo man sentenced in northside shooting death, jail assault
