DEA SLAYING OF GIRL UNDER INVESTIGATION

Federal and state law-enforcement authorities are investigating the
death of a 14-year-old Texas girl shot by a Drug Enforcement
Administration agent who was part of a team seeking to arrest her
father, who was suspected of dealing cocaine.

Ashley Villarreal died Feb. 11 at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San
Antonio after being taken off life support at the request of family
members. She was shot two days earlier by an unidentified DEA agent
seeking to arrest her father, Joey Angel Villarreal, 36, who turned
himself in Feb. 12 and was charged with drug trafficking.

The death is being investigated by homicide detectives from the San
Antonio Police Department and by the DEA's Office of Inspections, a
team of investigators from the agency's Washington headquarters. It
was not clear yesterday how long the inquiry would take.

District Attorney Susan Reed in San Antonio said she expected a
thorough probe and would bring charges in the case if warranted. Her
first assistant, Michael Bernard, said in an interview yesterday that
county prosecutors have been meeting daily with the San Antonio
detectives to keep current on the probe's progress.

"We are satisfied that a full and independent investigation of the
shooting is being done by the San Antonio Police Department, which was
not involved in the incident and has no other interest than in finding
the truth," Mr. Bernard said.

DEA Agent Javier Pena, who heads the agency's San Antonio field
office, immediately called for an investigation after the shooting,
telling reporters in San Antonio last week that Ashley's death was a
painful incident for everyone involved.

"It's traumatic," he said. "People are hurting. I feel for the family,
and I also feel for my agents."

A DEA spokesman in Washington said that after a shooting involving DEA
personnel, a thorough investigation by whatever police agency has
jurisdiction is "standard operating practice" and that the DEA's
Office of Inspections is also routinely involved. He said the DEA was
"cooperating fully" in the probe.

Authorities said the shooting occurred after undercover agents spotted
a man they believed to be Mr. Villarreal coming out of a San Antonio
house they had under surveillance. They said the man got into the
passenger side of a car driven by Ashley who drove away with the lights off.

"When they started leaving without the headlights on, and at a high
rate of speed, the agents felt certain this was their suspect and he
was trying to escape," San Antonio Police Sgt. Gabe Trevino told reporters.

Authorities said agents surrounded the car and shots were fired after
it rammed into two DEA vehicles. They said one agent fired again,
killing Ashley as the car sped in reverse toward him, believing he was
about to be run over.

The passenger was identified as Daniel Robles, a caretaker for the
girl's grandmother, who lived at the house the DEA had under
surveillance. Mr. Robles, who was uninjured and charged with public
drunkenness, said the agents opened fire only after the car Miss
Villarreal was driving crashed into the DEA vehicles, but said they
did not identify themselves until after the shooting. The girl's
relatives told police she panicked when confronted by the agents.

Mr. Villarreal was identified by federal prosecutors in San Antonio as
"part of an ongoing investigation in a larger drug trafficking case,"
although they did not elaborate.

He was arrested by Kerrville, Texas, police on drug-possession charges
just two days before the shooting, with the help of DEA agents. A
search of his hotel room in Kerrville on Feb. 7 found a "white powdery
substance" on the nightstand and floor, according to court records,
and investigators found $986 in cash in his possession.

Mr. 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 the next day. After his release,
authorities said the DEA received information he was about to flee to
Mexico and agents set up the surveillance operation.