Bexar County Assistant District Attorney Pete Gallego said in a statement that the DA’s office “will be happy to make the appropriate arrangements” so that Kevin Johnson’s family may view his physical autopsy report if they wish to.
The statement comes 16 months after Johnson was killed by SAPD officers and 49 days after the autopsy was completed.
Johnson was shot during an attempted arrest. Officers claimed he pulled out a gun. His mother, Arlene Garcia, disputed that.
Garcia said she’s tried to get the autopsy report since her son was killed, but was repeatedly told by the DA’s office that his death was still under investigation and that it wasn’t ready, including during a March 29, 2023, meeting where Garcia says she was initially told she’d see it.
The autopsy report was completed on May 30, 2023, according to a statement from Gallego last week. He said the DA’s office tried to reach Johnson’s family multiple times to discuss the report but was “unsuccessful in arranging an additional conversation.”
This past weekend, Civil Rights Division Chief Daryl Harris spoke with Garcia over the phone to answer several of her questions regarding her son’s shooting. She said he never discussed the possibility that she and her family could view the report, despite her requests.
“I said, 'I want to know. I want a picture of it where it shows where my son exactly got shot in the back,' ” Garcia said. “And [Harris] tried to talk over me at that point, like he tried to skip that part about the autopsy.”
In a statement, Gallego said it wasn’t clear to Harris from the phone call that Garcia and her family wanted to see the physical autopsy report.
“Many victims’ families do not wish to personally see or review the evidence in our possession,” he said. “The experience can be traumatic — and many families prefer to remember their loved ones in a happier time.”
Garcia said she will reach out to the DA’s Office to view her son's autopsy report.
