SAN ANTONIO – U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales continues to fight against calls for his resignation amid allegations of an affair with his staffer.
KSAT Investigates has spent months requesting records, making calls and gathering documents to gather a greater picture of what led up to staffer Regina Santos-Aviles’ death by suicide.
Here’s a timeline outlining what we know so far:
November 2021: Regina Santos-Aviles is hired to serve as Rep. Gonzales’ Regional Director in Uvalde.
May 2024: Adrian Aviles, Santos-Aviles’ husband, discovered sexually explicit texts between her and Rep. Gonzales. He believes the two have engaged in an affair.
June 1, 2024: Adrian Aviles texted several of Gonzales’ staffers, saying Santos-Aviles had “been having an affair on me with your boss Tony Gonzales for some time now.”
Fall 2024: Santos-Aviles and Aviles separated, according to Aviles’ attorney.
Sept. 13, 2025: Uvalde police responded to Santos-Aviles’s home, where officers discovered she had poured gasoline on herself and lit herself on fire.
Sept. 14, 2025: Santos-Aviles died at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, according to her family.
Sept. 17, 2025: Gonzales told KSAT Investigates he is “heart-stricken” by Santos-Aviles’ death.
Sept. 19, 2025: KSAT 12 and other media outlets were barred from an event in San Antonio that Gonzales appeared at.
Sept. 23, 2025: Uvalde police told KSAT Investigates that Santos-Aviles was alone when she started the fire.
Oct. 30, 2025: City of Uvalde and Aviles asked the attorney general’s office to block release of 911 calls and police reports connected to Santos-Aviles’ death.
Nov. 10, 2025: Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Santos-Aviles died by self-immolation, ruling the death a suicide.
Nov. 11, 2025: Gonzales refused to answer KSAT Investigates’ questions about the alleged affair with Santos-Aviles, which had been reported by the Daily Mail.
Nov. 13, 2025: Gonzales said “the rumors are completely untruthful” at a Texas Tribune event. Gonzales’ office did not respond to KSAT’s question, asking which rumors he was referring to.
Nov. 25, 2025: Adrian Aviles receives a letter from Office of Congressional Conduct asking for “any evidence” related to the affair, according to attorney Bobby Barrera.
Dec. 19, 2025: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton rules 911 calls and video related to Santos-Aviles’ death may remain sealed.
Feb. 17, 2026: Gonzales’ former staffer shares text message with San Antonio Express-News, showing Santos-Aviles admitting to an affair.
Feb. 18, 2026: Adrian Aviles’s attorney tells KSAT Investigates he believes the affair played a role in Santos-Aviles’ suicide.
Feb. 19, 2026: Gonzales accuses Adrian Aviles of trying to profit from wife’s death. The representative called for the release of the police report, saying he would not be “blackmailed.”
Feb. 23, 2026: Adrian Aviles shares sexually explicit texts between his wife and the congressman with KSAT Investigates.
- Uvalde police release a 23-page report on Santos-Aviles’ death.
- House Speaker Mike Johnson declines to call for US Rep. Gonzales’ resignation despite other Republicans doing so.
Feb. 24, 2026: Gonzales refused to address the affair allegations in the halls of Congress.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.