Overview

• Chief J. Noe Diaz presented a timeline showing HPD found the 15-year-old at a McDonald’s on Oct. 5, could not confirm his identity, consulted CPS, and transported him to an Office of Refugee Resettlement facility that evening.
• Diaz said prior HPD reports indicated the teen was not autistic and could communicate clearly, and that a different first name given to officers prevented a match to the missing-person report.
• HPD says detectives informed Maria Garcia on Oct. 10 that her son was in federal care and connected her with ORR after being contacted by a representative and an ORR attorney.
• Advocates with FIEL Houston argue HPD wrongly treated the teen as unaccompanied despite his mother being in Houston and say he has significant cognitive disabilities.
• Officials confirmed the teen required an emergency appendectomy at Texas Children’s Hospital and remains under federal care, while a heated City Council exchange ended with FIEL’s leader being removed after accusing the chief of lying.