A 60 year old Roma woman is facing an assault charge. She told a deputy she hit her adult son. It happened during a fight at their home.
Starr County deputies arrested Nerida Benavidez and charged her with assault. The charge stems from a fight on Wednesday, July 29, 2026. That fight broke out about 1 p.m. It happened on a Farm to Market road in Roma. Deputies say the fight started as an argument. Then it turned physical fast.
This case shows how fast a family fight can turn into criminal charges. Both Benavidez and her son ended up facing charges. Both charges came from the very same fight. One bad afternoon led to two arrests.
Deputy Omar Martinez went out to the home. His badge number is 149. He was sent for a fight call between family members. Martinez wrote up what happened. He filed his report with the Starr County Sheriff's Office.
Martinez said Benavidez told him her side. She said she hit her son with her open right hand. This happened while they were arguing. She said the fight kept going after that.
Benavidez also told Martinez that her son hit her back. She said he struck the left side of her face. He used his closed fist. She said this happened after she had already hit him first.
Deputies charged Benavidez with a crime. The charge is assault causing bodily injury to a family member. Under Texas law, that means hurting someone in your own family on purpose.
The charge is a class A misdemeanor. That is the most serious kind of misdemeanor in Texas. It can bring up to a year in the county jail. It can also bring a fine as high as $4,000.
Her son was also charged in the same fight. El Tejano is not using his name in this story. The sheriff's report lists him as the one Benavidez is accused of hitting. He also faces his own charge tied to this same case.
Family fights like this one happen often in Starr County. They happen across the whole Rio Grande Valley too. Deputies get called to a house for one fight. Then more than one person can end up facing charges. That happens once the yelling stops and the badges show up.
Texas courts treat family violence cases with extra care. A conviction can follow a person for years. It can show up later on background checks. Those checks often flag any case tied to family violence.
Cases like this one send a clear message to families. A fight inside a home is still a crime once it turns physical. Deputies do not need to see a broken bone to file charges. A slap or a punch is enough under the law. Words alone are not a crime. Hands on another person can be.
Right now, there is no word yet on when Benavidez will go to court. No court date has been set yet.
Domestic fights like this one can be hard on a whole family. Both a mother and a son now carry criminal charges. Both charges came from one bad afternoon. Neighbors in Roma are used to seeing sheriff's trucks on the Farm to Market roads. This time the trouble came from inside one home. It did not come from the road outside it.
Cases like this show why deputies take every fight call seriously. A call about yelling can turn into two arrests within an hour. Families in small towns like Roma often know each other well. That does not stop fights from turning into criminal cases.
El Tejano will keep following this case. We will share new facts with readers. That will happen as soon as the court record shows them.
