Texas Congressional Staffer Regina Santos-Aviles Dies After Self-Inflicted Fire

Regina Santos-Aviles, 35, a regional district director for Rep. Tony Gonzales, was found engulfed in flames in the backyard of her Uvalde home on Sept. 13 and was airlifted to Brooke Army Medical Center, where she died the next morning. A Uvalde Volunteer Fire Department report and police said she doused herself in gasoline and was ignited, and firefighters extinguished a burning gas can at the scene. Surveillance footage and a Texas Department of Public Safety review indicated she was alone when the fire began, and investigators have found no indication of foul play while the Texas Rangers assist the probe. The Bexar County medical examiner had not yet released a final ruling on cause and manner of death. Santos-Aviles’s family maintains the blaze was accidental and said her last words were, "I don't want to die." Congressman Gonzales expressed sorrow as the community mourns her death.