Travis County grand jury indicts construction company, project head for employee death
TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas - A Travis County grand jury has indicted D Guerra Construction and project superintendent Carlos Alejandro Guerrero, 37, for criminal negligent homicide.
On Oct. 23, 2021, workers were in a trench installing a wastewater line when a trench collapsed, and Juan Jose Galvan Batalla, 24, was buried by soil and debris. He died from his injuries seven days later.
His mother, Rosa Isela Batalla Morales, describes him as a happy person who took good care of his son and siblings.
"No mother deserves this pain that I'm going through, it's already been three years of crying and asking God," she said in Spanish.
In 2022, OSHA referred the case to the district attorney's office after citing the company for various violations.
"All workers here in Travis County deserve to be safe at work so that they can return to their families at the end of the day. When employers engage in criminal conduct and expose their employees to hazardous working conditions, this office will hold them accountable," Travis County DA Jose Garza said.
OSHA says, despite a partial trench collapse earlier that day, the company sent Batalla and another worker back into the unprotected 13-foot-trench. The other worker sustained serious injuries.
Morales is hoping for justice.
"They should pay for the errors because they should've taken care of my son. He never told them no, he was always willing to work," she said in Spanish. "I miss him a lot, he's missed by his family and his son."
Scot Courtney, Guerrero's attorney, says he hasn't received the discovery on the case yet.
"This matter went and was fully litigated in front of OSHA, and there were some determinations and there was a decline of criminal charges then. I'm now trying to determine the motivation of the prosecution here in Travis County and to try to determine why they have assessed all cause and blame criminally on my client," he said. "I anticipate that once we do have all that information, I look forward to presenting that to a jury and letting a jury of Travis County citizens determine if my client should be criminally responsible and held liable for this accident."
D Guerra Construction released the following statement:
"Since the time of this tragic event, our thoughts and prayers have been with Juan and his family. Juan was a valued member of our team, and his family is deeply woven into our company, with several of his family members still working here at D. Guerra Construction. As the indictments have only recently been handed down, we have not had the benefit of seeing all of the District Attorney’s evidence and consequently are not in a position to provide further comment at this time."