Texas Congressman Tony Gonzales has been accused of carrying on an extramarital affair with his senior aide, Regina Santos-Aviles, who tragically died after dousing herself in gasoline and setting herself on fire last month.
Gonzales, 43, a married father of six representing Texas’s 23rd Congressional District, which stretches from San Antonio through Uvalde to El Paso, hired Santos-Aviles, 35, as his regional district director in 2021.
According to a report from the Daily Mail, local police are stonewalling the release of critical evidence, including the 911 call, surveillance video, and police records.
Sources told the outlet that the affair began shortly after her hiring and continued “for some time.”
Santos-Aviles, a married mother of an eight-year-old son who was separated from her husband Adrian Aviles, was often seen by Gonzales’s side, including during high-profile events like Elon Musk’s 2023 tour of the Mexico border in Eagle Pass.
The tragic incident occurred on September 13, when Santos-Aviles poured gasoline over herself in the backyard of her Uvalde home and was engulfed in flames. She was airlifted to a San Antonio hospital but succumbed to her injuries the next day.
Home surveillance cameras installed by her estranged husband captured the horrifying moment, and the footage has reportedly been handed over to the Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab for analysis.
Investigators have ruled it a self-immolation, with no evidence suggesting anyone else was involved.
However, the Uvalde Police Department has refused to release key records, petitioning the state Attorney General to keep them sealed, which the Daily Mail noted is an unusual move. The secrecy has sparked speculation about political favors being done for Gonzalez.
Santos-Aviles’s mother, Nora Gonzales (no relation to the congressman), told the San Antonio Express-News that her daughter’s final words were “I don’t want to die,” describing the incident as a tragic accident.
The paper reported:
Her mother, Nora Ann Gonzales, previously told the San Antonio Express-News that her daughter was upset on the night of Sept. 13 because her 8-year-old son was spending the weekend with his father. Santos-Aviles and her husband had separated and were sharing parenting responsibilities, her mother said.
Sensing her daughter’s distress, Gonzales said she went to the home that night to find Santos-Aviles burned and pleading for water.
“The last thing she said is, ‘I don’t want to die,’” Gonzales recalled.
“She loved life and loved her family and loved everyone and loved doing for others,” Nora Gonzales said. “She loved the work that she did and how she helped the communities get funding for things they needed.”
The congressman has faced criticism from within the GOP for left-leaning stances on issues like gun control and immigration.
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