GALVESTON, Texas – The cold weather turned deadly in Galveston County, where the district attorney is now planning a criminal investigation.
“The reports of these deaths are deeply disturbing and they absolutely deserve to be investigated,” District Attorney Jack Roady said over the phone.
The cold left many without power.
According to the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s office, there were two confirmed exposure deaths and one highly suspected carbon monoxide death as of Thursday.
Four other deaths are possibly related to the weather conditions.
Roady said he would ask local law enforcement agencies to look into the circumstances around the weather-related deaths.
“Then we’re also going to be looking to an investigation at the state level as to who was responsible for making the decisions to cut power and why those decisions were made,” he said.
After that, he said criminal charges could be filed, depending on the evidence. However, he didn’t go into detail about any potential charges the office might pursue.
Even if there are no charges, the DA said the probe could shed some light on what happened.
“I imagine there are a whole lot of people, not just in Galveston County but across the state, who want answers as to why decisions were made to cut certain communities’ power for so long,” Roady said.