The Murder of Kylie Warren

 

Kylie Warren was shot to death inside her Converse, Texas home during the early-morning hours of October 23rd, 2016. The 26-year-old woman left behind three young children, amongst several other heartbroken family members and loved ones. To this day, Kylie's killer has still not been brought to justice.

Kylie was reportedly going through a divorce with her husband, John Andrew Garza, at the time of her murder. According to family members, Kylie married Garza "in secret" six years prior at the Justice of the Peace office. It seems likely that Kylie hid the marriage from her family due to their concerns about Garza being controlling and abusive. Kylie's mother said that they feared for Kylie's safety throughout her relationship with Garza, and that several attempts were made to get Kylie out of this marriage.

By the fall of 2016, it appears that Kylie finally did decide to move on from Garza. In fact, she had reportedly began seeing another man. On October 20th - just three days before the murder - Garza reportedly confronted Kylie and this man at Kylie's home. During this confrontation, Garza allegedly fired his gun at the man, but the bullet did not strike. Nobody was physically injured during the incident. 

Reports indicate that Kylie's children were staying with Kylie's mother, Cherin Ehlke, during this time. On October 23rd, Ehlke sent pictures of the children at pumpkin patch to Kylie's phone. Kylie did not reply, which was very unusual. Knowing something was not right, Ehlke eventually called police and asked for a wellness check at Kylie's residence.

When police arrived, they found Kylie deceased on her kitchen floor. She had been killed by a gunshot wound to the head. Garza was quickly labeled as the main suspect in the case. He was eventually arrested and indicted on murder charges. However, in June 2018, both Kylie's family members and detectives were shocked to learn that the charges against Garza had been dropped.

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An abrupt stop to justice.

Kylie's family stated that they did not receive many updates after Garza's arrest. As such, they believed that the case was moving forward as any other case would. In fact, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar stated that "our detective did quite an outstanding job" getting the case to the point of indictment.

It wasn't until June 2018 that both Kylie's family members and Salazar were informed that the DA's office requested the case to be dismissed; citing that the case was "not sufficient for prosecution." Both Kylie's family members and detectives were surprised by this decision. Salazar stated that there were "no known issues" with the case. 

Still, when the case was dismissed, a public appeal was made for anyone with information about Kylie's murder to come forward. To this day, the question remains: will Kylie's killer ever be brought to justice? A look back into Kylie's life and the events surrounding her murder may hold the answers needed to move the case forward.

More about Kylie.

Various reports indicate that Kylie was a kind and fun-loving young woman. She enjoyed fashion and spending time with her family members. Kylie's loved ones described her as a dedicated mother who loved to take her children on fun outings. 

As previously noted, though, Kylie's adult life was not without hardship. Her relationship and eventual marriage to John Andrew Garza raised concerns with her loved ones. Now those loved ones are left questioning: did this relationship cost Kylie her life?

Relationship with John Andrew Garza.

According to Project Cold Case, in 2010 "Kylie secretly married her [Garza] at a justice of the peace office. The relationship had a history of troubles, and the issues had not gone unnoticed." Kylie's mother stated that her once-strong bond she shared with Kylie began to dwindle as she grew closer to Garza.

Over the next few years, Kylie's relationship with Garza continued to be rocky. At one point, Kylie went to Colorado to stay with her best friend while she attempted to leave the marriage. However, Garza eventually showed up in Colorado and convinced Kylie to come back to Texas. 

This pattern seemingly continued after Kylie returned to Texas. The profile on Kylie's case on Project Cold Case states that "countless attempts were made to protect Kylie, including police escorts to women’s shelters, filing for divorce, and moving back home with her mom. But nothing was a success."

The October 20th incident. 

By October 2016, Kylie had finally obtained a protective order against Garza. She also began seeing another man. Garza violated the protective order on October 20th, 2016, when he confronted both Kylie and the new man at her home. As noted above, Garza fired a gun during this incident, but nobody was physically injured. 

The murder.

Kylie was found deceased inside her home on October 23rd, 2016. It was quickly determined that she died after being shot in the head. It's believed she was killed around 2:00 AM.

 

Investigators worked to retrace Kylie's steps prior to her murder. They soon learned that she had been out with friends that night. They also were able to obtain surveillance footage from Kylie's neighborhood that showed a black SUV leaving her home around 2:30 that morning. 

Source: News 4 San Antonio

Garza's arrest and subsequent dropped charges.

John Andrew Garza seemed like an obvious suspect from the onset of the investigation. Not only did Kylie have a restraining order against him, but he had also fired a gun in Kylie's home just three days before she was shot to death. As noted, both detectives and Kylie's family members felt that Kylie's case was moving towards justice. 

In June 2018, the murder charges were officially dropped. It's known that the DA did not feel there was enough evidence to prosecute Garza - but it's unknown exactly how/why they came to that conclusion. It's possible that they have not been able to definitively link the black SUV to Garza. It's also possible that the friends that Kylie was with that night have not been completely ruled out. If the case, then it appears that there is still a decent amount of reasonable doubt. 

Where the case stands today.

Kylie's murder case is still considered open, though at this time, it's now labeled as a cold case. Both the Bexar County Sheriff's Office and San Antonio Crime Stoppers are investigating. If you have any information that could help solve the murder of Kylie Warren, please contact the sheriff's office at (210) 335-6000 or submit a tip online.

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Sources:
ABC KSAT 12, (2)
News 4 San Antonio
Project Cold Case