DEA CASE TROUBLED BY TIMING

The stakeout that ended with a 14-year-old girl shot in the head was part of
a federal narcotics investigation that had been marked in recent days by
several instances of unfortunate timing.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents say they were looking for cocaine
trafficking suspect Joey Villarreal and believed he might be trying to flee
Sunday when they shot into the darkened car driven by his daughter, Ashley
Villarreal.

Officials said the agent, Bill Swierc, fired as the sedan tried to ram him.
But as family members arranged Wednesday for the girl's funeral, they
dispute that she was to blame for her own death.

The incident at South San Joaquin at Motes streets has inflamed local
sentiment, both for and against the agents, and is under review by San
Antonio police and a DEA team from Washington.

Meanwhile, in hindsight, the shooting was only one instance in which the
timing appeared unfortunate. For example:

DEA agents helped Kerrville police arrest Villarreal on minor charges barely
two days before federal agents were looking for him again, this time after
receiving information alleging that he might bolt for Mexico.

While agents were searching for Villarreal, his lawyer says the 36-year-old
musician was making plans to turn himself in. The meeting at the attorney's
office ended roughly three hours before Ashley was shot.

When federal authorities charged Villarreal after the shooting, they based
the complaint on information they had possessed for some time but had not
wanted to use until the rest of the investigation ripened.

"He was and is part of an ongoing investigation in a larger drug trafficking
case," said Greg Surovic, the assistant U.S. attorney who supervises federal
drug task force prosecutions. "The plan was not to arrest him on Monday."

But the chain of events that put agents in front of Villarreal's home on
Sunday appeared to start two days earlier.

That's when Kerrville police Sgt. Harry Fleming received a tip alleging that
the odor of marijuana had wafted from the hotel room Villarreal was renting.
The police, aided by DEA agents and others, set up surveillance. Court
records indicate that they determined the room was being used to distribute
drugs.

A search of the room found "white powdery substance" on the nightstand and
floor, the documents state. Villarreal had cash totaling $986.

Villarreal was charged with possessing less than a gram of controlled
substance and driving with a suspended license. He spent the night in jail
and posted bond Saturday.

After his release, investigators received the information alleging that he
was about to flee the country.

"There were things going on the organization that probably led him to
believe the heat was on," Surovic said.

Surovic said a prosecutor came into the office and had typed up the
complaint against Villarreal hours before Sunday's shooting. The document
alleged that Villarreal was the "leader" of a cocaine trafficking group.

Meanwhile, the Villarreal family was adamant that Ashley should not be
blamed.

The girl's uncle, Pete Villarreal called the shooting senseless.

He said nothing the girl did was suspicious enough to justify agents opening
fire. As he put it, her only crime was driving around the block without
headlights and without a license.

"She was killed because she committed a traffic violation," he said.

Visitation for Ashley will start at 2 p.m. today, followed by a rosary at 7
p.m. at the Castillo Mission Funeral Home at 520 N. Gen. McMullen Drive.

The next day, a Mass has been scheduled for 10 a.m. at St. Jude's Catholic
Church at 130 S. San Augustine St. Burial will follow at San Fernando
Cemetery No. 2.

"A 14-year-old girl," Pete Villarreal said, "should not be buried on
Valentine's Day."