Editor's note: This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Newly released Uvalde police records shed critical new light on the final moments of Regina Santos-Aviles, the 35-year-old congressional staffer whose death has ignited calls for Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, to resign - and the records tell a story more complicated than the political firestorm surrounding it.
The City of Uvalde on Monday released police reports and evidence related to the September death of Santos-Aviles, a regional district director for Congressman Tony Gonzales. The records confirm the medical examiner's finding that Santos-Aviles died by suicide after setting herself on fire.
According to the newly released documents, a Uvalde police officer responded to Santos-Aviles' home and found her with severe burn injuries covering her body. Santos-Aviles told the officer she had discovered her husband was cheating on her with her best friend, and as a result, she poured gasoline on herself and set herself on fire.
Records also indicate Santos-Aviles may have placed a 911 call in which she told dispatchers, "I don't want to die." Moments later, her mother also contacted 911.
Emergency crews responded to reports of a disturbance around 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 13. Paramedics transported Santos-Aviles by air to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where she died early the next morning. Firefighters reported finding and extinguishing a burning gas can at the scene.
Her estranged husband, Adrian Aviles, denied the allegations made at the scene, stating the female friend in question was also his childhood friend and that there was no romantic relationship between them.
The couple had been estranged for several months, after what friends described to investigators as "Regina's supposed affair" had strained the relationship.
The release comes amid a swirl of controversy that has consumed Gonzales ahead of the March 3 Republican primary. Text messages extracted from Santos-Aviles' phone and obtained by CBS News show a conversation between Gonzales and the late staffer in which, after midnight in early May 2024, Gonzales asked for a "sexy pic." Santos-Aviles pushed back, saying the conversation had gone "too far."
Gonzales has denied having an affair, and has accused Santos-Aviles' widower and his attorney of attempting to blackmail him by proposing a $300,000 legal settlement with a non-disclosure agreement. The attorney denied the allegation, calling it a standard settlement letter.
On Tuesday, Gonzales told reporters he will not resign, saying, "There will be an opportunity for all the details and the facts to come out. What you've seen are not all the facts." Republicans including Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Nancy Mace of South Carolina called on him to step down, with Mace calling the allegations an "abuse of power."
The Office of Congressional Conduct has opened an investigation into whether Gonzales violated House rules regarding sexual relationships with subordinates. Because the primary is March 3, the office cannot make any referral within 60 days of an election. Santos-Aviles is survived by her 8-year-old son.
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