Whitehouse man sentenced to 8 years probation for tampering with evidence in murder

Published 3:29 pm Thursday, December 20, 2018

By LouAnna Campbell, lcampbell@tylerpaper.com

Nathan Ryan Garcia (Courtesy of Smith County)

A Whitehouse man pleaded guilty Thursday and was sentenced to eight years of probation for tampering with evidence in the Nov. 5, 2017, shooting death of a 19-year-old Tyler man.

Nathan Ryan Garcia, 21, was arrested Nov. 8, 2017, in connection with the murder of Andrew Carpenter. 

Another accomplice, Colton Wade Tate, 22, of Whitehouse, pleaded guilty on Tuesday and was sentenced to 10 years of probation for tampering with evidence in the case. 

Murder charges against Garcia and Tate were dismissed after a hearing on Nov. 29, 2018, according to Smith County criminal case records.  

On Nov. 5, 2017, authorities were called to the 8800 block of Deerwood Drive on a report of the shooting about 1:15 a.m., according to the affidavit.



Garcia drove Martin Wesley Reynolds Jr. from Whitehouse to the residence on Deerwood Drive to confront Carpenter, according to the affidavit. 

Reynolds and Garcia parked down the street and were walking up to the residence when they heard Carpenter yell and saw him grab a shotgun, according to the affidavit.  

Reynolds told detectives Carpenter shot him in the leg and that’s when he pulled the pistol out and shot Carpenter two times.

The affidavit said witnesses were conducting CPR on Carpenter when Smith County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived. Witnesses also told deputies they believed Reynolds to be the shooter. 

Investigators said surveillance camera footage at the hospital showed Reynolds arriving at the emergency room about 20 minutes later.

Reynolds, 22, was arrested Nov. 5, 2017, on a murder charge after he was treated at the hospital. He remains in Smith County Jail on a $750,000 bond. 

Reynolds’ trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 4. 

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