GEORGE WEST, Texas — A Live Oak County mother is pleading for help for her Marine veteran son who has found himself behind bars.
Elsa Guerrero doesn't try to paint her son as innocent, as she says he admitted to the crime he was accused of. What she believes, however, is that her son needs treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Gregory Guerrero was your average kid. He joined the Marines out of high school in 2008 and spent eight years in the USMC reserves.
Her also served eight months in Afghanistan, which is where his PTSD developed. It got worse when he came home and his wife left him.
“She had gone through all his money, the daughter he thought was his before he went to war, he found out it was not his daughter,” said Elsa Guerrero.
Elsa says that Gregory went to the VA to get help for his PTSD, but felt like he was getting nowhere.
“He said every time he went it was a different counselor, so he had to start over from session one,” said Guerrero. “He never got to the second session or third.”
George West, TX is a small town where mostly everyone knows everyone and running into someone isn't hard. Gregory’s ex-wife accused him of stalking. He was convicted and put on probation.
To his credit, Gregory moved on, found another girl, and had a child. But then the unthinkable happened when he found out he was helping raise another child that wasn't his.
“He just did not know how to deal with it,” said Guerrero.
Unfortunately, he dealt with it by going to the mother's home.
“He broke in the house, he took her computer,” said Guerrero. “He had a wrench in his hand, that was the main factor why he was charged with aggravated assault.”
Gregory says he felt a knife at his neck and swung the wrench. He was arrested, charged with aggravated assault and convicted. He’s currently incarcerated at the Jester IV psychiatric facility in Richmond, TX.
His sentence is seven years, and he's eligible for parole in half. That’s still more that three years away and Elsa is worried for her son.
“I don't believe the prison system rehabs PTSD,” said Guerrero. “I believe he needs a treatment center, an intense treatment center for PTSD.”
June is PTSD Awareness Month. Guerrero hopes that by telling her son's story, another veteran is inspired to get the help they need.
