A GoFundMe page has started for the Ector County Hospital District Police Department officer who was killed in a fatal collision in San Antonio.
The page was started by Gloria Garza to benefit the family of Sgt. Daniel Valenzuela Jr., who died in a two-vehicle collision on Sunday morning, along with his father and grandmother.
As of Monday afternoon, the page has $280 of its $10,000 goal. The page details the funds will help with the expense for funeral services and help relieve some burden that will come in the days weeks and months. Valenzuela leaves behind his wife and four children.
Valenzuela served in law enforcement for nearly 13 years. He started his career in Lamesa, before moving to the Crane County Sheriff’s Office and then the Ector County Hospital District Police Department where he spent the last seven years.
According to KSAT, 17-year-old Elijah James Montalvo was arrested in connection to the fatal collision. Montalvo reportedly ran a red light and collided with Valenzuela’s vehicle.
Montalvo is being held at the Bexar County Detention Center where he has three counts of intoxication manslaughter, a second-degree felony, three counts of manslaughter, a second-degree felony, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony, and intoxication assault, a third-degree felony, jail records show. He has eight bonds totaling $700,000.
The fatal collision reportedly happened around 1:30 a.m., Sunday, on Loop 1604 and Culebra Road in San Antonio. Valenzuela’s vehicle was heading northbound on the 1604 access road and he had a green light at the intersection of Culebra.
Another vehicle approached the intersection heading east at a high rate of speed and didn’t have a green light, KSAT detailed. That vehicle, operated by Montalvo, collided into Valenzula’s vehicle.
Valenzuela’s vehicle also reportedly had three other family members inside, including his father, 69-year-old Daniel Valenzuela Sr., his grandmother Andrea Uvalle, 84, and another woman. Daniel Valenzuela and Uvalle died in the collision.
The Ector County Hospital District Police Department and Medical Center Health System issued a press release on Sunday afternoon. The press release included a statement from ECHD Chief Brad Timmons.
“The Ector County Hospital District Police Department and Medical Center Health System suffered a devastating loss early Sunday morning when Sgt. Daniel Valenzuela Jr. was taken far too soon,” Timmons stated in the press release. “Sgt. Valenzuela was instrumental in all aspects of the police department and MCH. Sgt. Valenzuela was a friend, colleague and an outstanding police officer that has served his community with the utmost integrity and professionalism. Most importantly, he was a good man and he will be dearly missed. We ask the community to keep the Valenzuela family in your thoughts and prayers.”
