By Investigative Reporter Tammy Rose
More than a year after the Patrick Wright killing in Galveston, his mother, Kim Lain, says she still has serious questions about the investigation.
Kim Lain was there when her son died. She says she saw the man involved in the confrontation. She spoke directly to him. Moments later, she watched her son collapse after he was shot.
The investigation took several unexpected turns. Police first arrested the wrong man on a murder charge. Investigators later acknowledged problems with gunshot residue testing.
Authorities eventually identified another man as the shooter. They said he admitted firing the shots but claimed self-defense.
Watch the full investigation
Investigative Reporter Tammy Rose sat down with Kim Lain to discuss her son’s death, the investigation and the questions she says remain unanswered. Watch the full report below.
A Galveston County grand jury later took no action in the case.
Now Lain is questioning how investigators handled her son’s death and why no one faces charges.
Patrick Wright killed in Galveston
Patrick William Wright was 29 when he died on June 20, 2025.
Lain remembers her son for much more than the circumstances surrounding his death.
“He was a very pure soul, that is for sure,” Lain said. “Family was everything to him.”
She described Patrick as someone who held doors open for strangers and helped people who needed it.
“He’s the guy that would give the homeless a few bucks and something to eat, no questions asked,” she said. “I admired that about him.”
A confrontation on Avenue R
Lain says she and Patrick were traveling along Avenue R in Galveston when another vehicle made a wide U-turn and came close to them.
She says Patrick wanted the vehicle’s license plate number. He backed up until the two vehicles were next to each other.
“I heard my son say something to the effect of, ‘Hey, you know, what’s your problem? You almost hit me,’” Lain said.
Patrick eventually got out.
Lain says she repeatedly asked her son not to engage with the other driver. She also asked the other driver to leave.
Seconds later, she heard gunfire.
“It sounded like four shots to me,” Lain said. “It was more than two.”
Patrick then appeared at her window.
“He clenched his chest, and he said, ‘I’ve been shot,’” she recalled.
Lain called 911 at 10:14 p.m.
“He collapsed on the hood, and I lost him there,” she said.
Patrick had been shot twice in the chest.
Lain says less than three minutes passed between the U-turn and the shooting.
Police initially arrested the wrong man
The investigation soon took an unexpected turn.
Galveston police initially arrested Uber driver Sanddy Diaz Pino and charged him with murder.
Days later, police determined he was not the shooter.
Investigators said video evidence raised questions about his involvement. Police also acknowledged problems with preliminary gunshot residue testing that produced false-positive results.
Authorities dismissed the murder charge against Diaz Pino.
Investigators later identified another ride-share driver.
Authorities said that man admitted shooting Patrick but claimed he acted in self-defense.
Lain disputes part of the shooting account
Early reports cited a witness and a probable cause affidavit. They said Patrick lunged toward the driver’s open window before the shooting.
Lain says she did not see that happen.
“It hurts immensely,” she said. “It also hurts how things have been characterized … because that is not what I witnessed at that scene.”
Lain also disputes the identity of the driver.
She says she looked directly at the man behind the wheel and spoke to him during the confrontation.
Lain says she later made a sworn identification of the man she saw that night. She says the man she identified was not the same person authorities identified during their investigation.
She later took her eyewitness identification to authorities.
Lain says authorities told her it did not qualify as new evidence.
Grand jury takes no action
The case went before a Galveston County grand jury. The grand jury returned no indictment.
Grand jury proceedings remain secret under Texas law. That means the public cannot independently determine all the evidence prosecutors presented or why jurors reached their decision.
Lain has also discussed her own involvement in the grand jury process. Before publishing, I would confirm with Kim that she personally testified and then add that fact here. Your package does not establish that point clearly enough for me to put it in as fact yet.
Lain questions evidence in the case
Lain says the prosecutor who presented the case later discussed the evidence with her.
According to Lain, the prosecutor said the case went before the grand jury without a firearm, ballistics evidence, eyewitness identification or physical evidence tying the person under investigation to the scene.
Lain says the prosecutor told her authorities did have a confession and information from Uber placing that person there.
Those statements reflect Lain’s account of what the prosecutor told her. Grand jury secrecy prevents the public from independently confirming everything jurors saw or heard.
Lain says authorities told her she would need new evidence before they could consider the case again. She says they gave a firearm as one example.
She also questions why authorities want her to produce new evidence while opposing the release of Patrick’s complete autopsy file.
Lain believes that file could contain forensic evidence relevant to the case.
A mother continues searching for answers
Lain says she was also told that another grand jury would reach the same outcome even if she produced new evidence.
She questions how anyone could know what another grand jury would decide.
“I feel violated. I feel betrayed,” Lain said. “I feel pain for my son. I feel pain for myself. Every day is hell.”
More than a year after Patrick’s death, Lain wants authorities to take another look at the case.
She wants investigators to consider her eyewitness identification and her account of her son’s final minutes.
For Lain, Patrick is more than a name in an investigative file.
He was a 29-year-old father whom she remembers for his kindness and devotion to his family.
“Family was everything to him,” she said.
A grand jury’s decision not to indict does not determine guilt or innocence. Grand jury proceedings are secret, and the evidence presented to jurors generally remains outside public view.
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