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Murdered UIW nursing student remembered
Authorities want to know who shot and killed a University of the Incarnate Word ROTC nursing student while he was driving on Interstate 35 near Selma April 15.
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Joseph Gerard Banales, 22, was found with gunshot wounds to the back of his head when authorities checked on his vehicle that had crashed in the median. Witnesses said they saw the car swerving before the crash. Later, a homicide ruling fueled speculation the case was a road-rage incident.
According to police and media accounts, Banales’ family said he was on his way home from a military ball that night. The family also believed Banales was killed in a road-rage incident, but police have not said why Banales was shot. His girlfriend, Amy Bonilla, told
KENS she was on the phone with him that night when she heard the engine rev loudly before the call cut off.
In his obituary, family said Banales’ “life was cut short by a senseless act of violence.”
Banales’ funeral was at 10 a.m. Friday, April 21, at the Chapel of the Incarnate Word. Burial followed at noon in Holy Cross Cemetery, 17501 Nacogdoches, in San Antonio.
His family, friends and instructors paid tribute to Banales who was on track to be commissioned into the Army, as a nurse, in December.
Banales was born 13 minutes before his twin sister, Gabriella, and the two became known as “The Wonder Twins” in the family. Like his parents and an older brother, Banales planned to be an
Army nurse. His brothers and sister also are in the military.
Banales attended Catholic schools until his family moved to Germany, where he graduated with honors from Ramstein High School. While he was at St. Anthony High School, he played saxophone in the jazz band and competed in numerous drill team and rifle team competitions.
Besides being in ROTC at St. Mary’s University and UIW’s Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions, Banales served as a Student Government Association senator.
“Joseph was proud to serve his country and was looking forward to helping so many as a nurse – that is who he was, someone who was always giving JUMP TO PAGE 2 “NURSING STUDENT”
