Gustavo Zavala-Garcia, a 31-year-old inmate serving a life sentence for the 2016 murder of 10-year-old Kayla Gomez-Orozco, has died by suicide. According to a state report, Zavala-Garcia was found unresponsive at the Wainwright Unit in Lovelady on July 2. He was declared dead at 5:43 a.m. The report lists suicide as the manner of death, indicating that Zavala-Garcia used a homemade ligature for hanging and strangulation.
Kayla Gomez-Orozco went missing during a prayer service at a church in Bullard on November 1, 2016. Her body was later discovered in a water well at Zavala-Garcia's home on FM 2493. In August 2019, Zavala-Garcia pleaded guilty to capital murder and received a life sentence.
