Deputy Constable Francisco A. Cisneros

Francisco A. Cisneros

On Sunday morning, July 26, 1931, Willacy County Precinct 2 Constable William F. Haygood, and his deputy, Francisco A. Cisneros, were shot to death. Willacy County Jailer Jose Guzman was also shot in the same incident, but survived.

Haygood, Cisneros and Guzman were investigating a suspicious vehicle parked on the side of the road near a cemetery. The lawmen thought the car contained some bootleggers. As the officers slowed their vehicle to talk to the man and woman in the suspicious car, both the man and woman got out of the car and approached the officers who were still seated in their vehicle. Just as the male walked up to the officer’s vehicle, the man opened fire striking Deputy Constable Cisneros on his right wrist. As Constable Haygood exited the vehicle, he was shot in the back, killing him instantly. The gunman then turned and shot Deputy Constable Cisneros several more times, with bullets entering his left side and heart. Jailer Guzman, crouching on the floor of the car, received a bullet wound to the mouth.

After the shooting, the male fled into brush, abandoning his vehicle and his girlfriend, identified as Domlaga Bueno, age 20.

Jailer Guzman fled into Raymondville and summoned assistance. Willacy County Deputies A. I. Pytle and John Nolen arrived at the scene. The officers searched for the suspect, but it was felt that he had fled across the border to Mexico.

Willacy County Justice of the Peace J. B. Huffer, who held an inquest, stated that he found Deputy Constable Cisneros slumped in the front seat of the car, dead, his gun lying in the road with one shell exploded. Constable Haygood was lying on his back on the right side of the car, his gun still in the holster. Officers felt the shooting was in retaliation for a bootlegging arrest that Deputy Constable Cisneros had made weeks earlier.

Deputy Constable Francisco A. Cisneros, 23, was born and raised in Raymondville, Texas. He was survived by his wife, Juanna Gonzaba. He was buried at the La Piedad #1 Cemetery in Raymondville, Texas.