BREAKING NEWS: District Judge Cano-Garcia dies

District Judge Silvia E. Cano-Garcia died Monday following a long battle with cancer.

Cano-Garcia, who fought for years to stay on the bench while she battled the disease, died about 4 a.m. She was 44.

She is survived by her husband Reynaldo Garcia and their daughter Marisol.

“We were friends since junior high,” said former Magistrate Judge Susana Chaparro. “She’s probably one of the most courageous people I’ve met in my whole life. I love her and I’m going to miss my friend.”

Cano-Garcia took a leave of absence from the Doña Ana County court in August and never returned to the bench.

Cano-Garcia was respected for her professionalism, ethics and passion. She was assigned to the criminal division and presided over many high-profile cases, including the first rape and bribery trial of former Magistrate Judge Reuben Galvan and several cases involving child abuse resulting in death.

Robert E. Robles, the presiding judge of the district court in Las Cruces, also spoke about Cano-Garcia’s courage.

“She was tireless,” he said. “She fought for the right things. She never gave up, even in the face of adversity.”

Cano-Garcia was elected in 2002 and sworn in on Jan. 2, 2003. Former Gov. Gary Johnson had appointed her less than two years earlier to a judgeship on the Doña Ana County Magistrate Court.

As magistrates, she and Chaparro created a domestic violence court modeled after adult and juvenile drug programs. Chaparro traveled around the nation to give presentations about the court.

“It was the only of its kind in the nation,” Chaparro said.

Before becoming a judge, Cano-Garcia worked in the district attorney’s office and in private practice.

“She was my friend,” said District Attorney Susana Martinez, who visited Cano-Garcia this weekend. “I was honored to have been a small part of her life. She will be deeply missed.”

A native New Mexican who was born and raised in Mesilla, she received a bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State University in 1982 and a law degree from American University in Washington, D.C. in 1987. She was a Fulbright scholar who studied international relations in Germany from October 1982 to July 1983. Cano-Garcia was fluent in English, Spanish and German.

State Rep. Joseph Cervantes attended Zia Middle and Las Cruces High schools with Cano-Garcia, and recalled Monday that she had been student body president at Zia. In addition to being skilled in the law, Cervantes said, she was an accomplished pianist.

“She was a person who was full of life,” he said. “If ever there was a renaissance person, it was Silvia, from languages to music to arts to the law.”

Chaparro called Cano-Garcia “true to her word and honorable.”

“First and foremost in her mind was her family,” Chaparro said. “Her second love was the law.”

A prior version of this posting incorrectly stated that Cano-Garcia was appointed to the district judgeship in 2003.