A Fort Bliss soldier was arrested, extradited and jailed after being indicted by an El Paso grand jury accusing her of leaving the scene after fatally hitting a woman with her car on a street in the Upper East Side.
Harmony Adynasty McNair, 20, was charged with collision involving death in a crash that killed Erica Suann Garcia, 37, as she walked on Tim Foster Street in the early hours of Feb. 8, according to an indictment and a court hearing.
"I believe it's going to be shown that this was nothing more than a tragic accident, unfortunately," McNair's attorney Woodrow W. Bean III told Magistrate Judge Ruben Nuñez at a teleconference bond hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
McNair has been in custody for about five
weeks since she was arrested while training in Fort Knox, Kentucky, Bean said.
Nuñez reduced McNair's bond from $100,000 to $20,000. She remained at the El Paso County jail in Downtown as of Thursday, Sept. 17, jail logs show.
Bean suggested during the hearing that McNair should not have been indicted by a grand jury in the 384th District Court. The indictment — obtained by the El Paso Times — shows it was handed up on July 22.
Bean and Assistant District Attorney William Dixon at the hearing differed over whether McNair had been driving recklessly and left the scene of the crash.
But both the defense and the prosecution agreed that the pedestrian was intoxicated. Dixon noted Garcia had a blood-alcohol level of 0.234 — nearly three times the legal limit in Texas and indicating a high level of intoxication.
El Paso woman killed had 'heart of gold'
Garcia was the mother of four children, an obituary stated. She was born and spent her early childhood in Bakersfield, California, before moving to El Paso, where she graduated from Montwood High School before becoming a medical assistant.
"Erica was a very loving, caring, and giving person with a heart of gold. She had a contagious smile from the day she was born," stated anobituary in the El Paso Times.
Fatal pedestrian collision on Tim Foster Street
The deadly collision occurred about 2:10 a.m. on the Sunday of Feb. 8 in the 2300 block of Tim Foster Street near Montwood Drive, El Paso police officials previously said.
McNair was driving a 2025 Kia K4 when she struck Garcia as she was crossing Tim Foster Street, police said. Garcia was taken to a hospital, where she died.
Dixon, the prosecutor, said that a witness allegedly saw McNair's vehicle in front of him, spin out and almost crash into a utility pole. McNair allegedly admitted to police that her car spun out.
McNair allegedly admitted to police to hitting a pedestrian. McNair stopped near the crash to check on Garcia and went back to a residence, "and that's the case," Dixon said at the hearing.
Investigators obtained video showing McNair going out of the residence multiple times and the call to police came from her brother-in-law and not from her, Dixon said.
"She did cause the death and left the scene," Dixon said.
Defense version of events
McNair is from North Carolina, has no criminal record and has been with the U.S. Army for 18 months and was stationed at Fort Bliss, her attorney said.
The pedestrian was "in the middle of a street that was completely dark," Bean said.
Bean claimed that McNair spoke to police officers about a block from the crash. She was given a field sobriety test by police and she was not under the influence.
Bean also argued that there were conflicting witness accounts regarding the reckless driver, saying that one witness saw a man driving a black Dodge Charger, a different type of car than McNair's Kia.
Soldier arrested at Fort Knox
Bean claimed that McNair's military chain of command had learned her case had been supposedly closed by police and allowed McNair to leave Fort Bliss for training at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
Court records show the indictment was issued July 22. An arrest warrant for McNair was issued July 30.
The Army Criminal Investigation Division informed McNair's chain of command about the arrest warrant and she was turned over to local authorities in Kentucky, where she was jailed for about four weeks before she was returned to El Paso after she waived extradition.
She was booked into the El Paso County jail in Downtown on Sept. 11, jail records showed.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com and @BorundaDaniel on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso woman fatally struck by car, conflicting versions emerge
