A Hidalgo County judge cut bond again for a Donna woman. She is charged in her boyfriend's death. Miriam Valdez, 22, now has a total bond of $50,000. That is down from $300,000 set last year.

Valdez faces two charges. One is manslaughter. One is murder. Both come from the death of 20-year-old Damian Bazan. Deputies say Bazan was her boyfriend. He died on May 18, 2025. His body was found inside a vehicle in rural Donna. He had a gunshot wound to the head.

This case matters to South Texas families. It shows how much bond can change as a case moves through court. It also shows how hard it can be for a family to raise big money. This is true even a year after an arrest.

Donna is a small city in Hidalgo County. Hidalgo County is in the Rio Grande Valley. Cases like this one often take a long time to reach trial there.

The Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office says Valdez admitted to firing a handgun at Bazan. She told investigators she pointed the gun his way. She said she pulled the trigger. She said she thought the gun was empty.

Deputies first charged Valdez with manslaughter. That charge came one day after Bazan's body was found. Court records show Valdez was later charged with murder too, after she was arraigned. An arraignment is when a defendant goes before a judge to hear the charges against them.

The murder charge paper says Valdez "recklessly" caused Bazan's death. It says she did this "with intent to cause serious bodily injury."

A judge set her first bond at $1 million. That is the total amount she had to pay to get out of jail while her case moved forward. On May 30, 2025, the bond went down. It dropped to $250,000 for the manslaughter charge. It dropped to $50,000 for the murder charge. Together, that was $300,000.

On Aug. 12, 2026, Valdez's side asked the court for a lower bond again. They asked for a total of $30,000. Court papers said the old bond was "oppressively high." That means far too high.

Court papers said Valdez's family already tried to pay the bond once. They could not raise the money. The papers said the family could not "post cash bonds or pay the professional bondsman premiums required for surety bonds." In plain words, the family could not pay the cash or the fees a bond company charges.

Bond is money a defendant pays to get out of jail. It holds their spot while the case moves through court. Judges can lower bond if they think the amount is too hard for a family to pay. They usually only do this if they do not see the person as a danger to others. They also check if the person is a flight risk. A flight risk means someone who might run and not come back to court.

Manslaughter and murder are both serious charges tied to a death. Manslaughter usually means a person caused a death but did not plan to kill someone. Murder is a more serious charge. In Texas, both can carry long prison time if a jury convicts. A defendant can be charged with more than one crime for the same case while the courts sort out the facts.

This is Valdez's second bond cut since her arrest in May 2025. The judge lowered her bond to $25,000 on the manslaughter charge. The judge lowered it to $25,000 on the murder charge too. That comes to $50,000 total. That is down from $300,000.

Hidalgo County jail records show Valdez remained in custody as of Monday night. El Tejano will follow this case as it moves through court.