A Texas congressional aide who burned herself to death after an alleged affair with a married lawmaker did so after discovering her husband had cheated on her with her best friend, new records reveal.
Regina Aviles, 35, suffered the horrific death in Uvalde, Texas, in September 2025 with her suicide leading to calls for her alleged lover Representative Tony Gonzales to end his run for reelection in Texas's 33rd Congressional District.
On Monday, the San Antonio Express News revealed Aviles had sent her husband Adrian Aviles a furious message after discovering his own alleged infidelity with her unidentified best friend before taking her own life.
'Tell Baller I'm setting myself on fire right now, so have fun raising our son,' she texted Adrian's best friend Joshua Garza as she filmed herself dousing her body with gasoline.
Tragically, the text was no idle threat, with cameras around Aviles's home recording her setting herself ablaze moments later.
She regretted her decision and was filmed rolling around in the grass trying to put the flames out and dousing herself with water from a garden hose.
At 9.30pm, she called 911, begging for help, telling the dispatchers: 'I don't want to die' and 'it hurts so bad.'
Sadly Aviles, who had an eight-year-old son with Adrian, had injured herself too seriously to recover.
Regina Aviles, the Texas congressional aide who set herself on fire after an alleged affair with Rep. Tony Gonzales, told police she wanted to take her own life after discovering her husband had been unfaithful, new police records reveal.
A month after her death, Daily Mail revealed that Aviles had confided in friends about her alleged affair with Gonzales, who is married and running for re-election. Gonzales denied it, but has since dodged questions about their relationship.
After Aviles texted Adrian's friend Garza, he quickly forwarded the video to Adrian himself.
Adrian responded by telling the friend that Aviles’s mother was on the way to her home, the incident report stated.
Garza told investigators he believed Aviles had spent time in a psychiatric hospital during her youth and was treated for undisclosed mental health issues.
Gonzales has not yet commented on the documents' release.
The Republican, a married father of six who has sold himself as a family man, last week called on police to make them public, claiming he was being blackmailed over the incident.
Gonzales, whose re-election has been backed by President Trump, has faced calls from both left and right to quit Congress over the claims, but has so-far resisted.
When first responders arrived, they found Aviles on her front porch. She was airlifted to a nearby hospital.
Aviles's husband, Adrian, found out about his wife's alleged relationship in June 2024.
She was found engulfed in flames at her Uvalde home on September 13. Investigators determined she was home alone at the time.
The Daily Mail was first to report the alleged affair between Aviles and married father-of-six Gonzales in October.
Adrian confirmed the affair to the Daily Mail in February, granting his first ever interview.
Additionally, Daily Mail obtained a text message from Congressional staffer Regina Aviles admitting she's slept with her boss.
When the Daily Mail first approached Gonzales about the alleged affair in September, he did not deny the affair; however, he had publicly denied the affair since then.
In November, Gonzales issued his only public denial of the affair while speaking to reporters, saying 'The rumors are completely untruthful.'
Aviles joined Gonzales's congressional staff in November 2021.
The romantic relationship between the pair allegedly began in 2022, a former staffer for Gonzales previously told Daily Mail anonymously for fear of retaliation.
Adrian Aviles, Regina's husband, believes Gonzales made the first move and was rebuffed by his wife initially due to text messages on her phone.
'He had made a pass at her and she'd mentioned, she'd said something about, you know, him being her boss and that that was inappropriate,' Adrian told the Daily Mail last week.
Regina Aviles, in her professional headshot, joined Gonzales's congressional staff in November 2021. The romantic relationship between the pair allegedly began in 2022.
Aviles referenced her alleged affair with her then-boss Congressman Tony Gonzales in a text message to a friend who shared this text conversation with the Daily Mail.
Adrian has said he will release text messages between his wife and Gonzales at some point but has yet to do so, telling Daily Mail he's weighing how to get the truth out while protecting his and Regina's 8-year-old son.
Gonzales pestered Aviles for sexy photos in May 2024 and quizzed her about her favorite sex positions, a sexually explicit late-night exchange between the pair revealed.
The messages, obtained by the Daily Mail, were sent 16 months before her suicide and suggest that Gonzales pushed her for photographs even after she said: ‘No, I just don’t like taking pictures of myself.’
The congressman went on to ask Aviles about her favorite sexual positions, including a crass one-word message: ‘A*?’
That same month, the congressman and Aviles allegedly hooked up twice at a Hill Country cabin in Concan, Texas.
Adrian says he discovered his wife's alleged betrayal in June 2025 and texted Gonzales and several members of his staff letting them know he knew.
'She looked up to him, you know, and for him [to] turn around and use that power to essentially, you know, I would call it coerce an affair,' he previously told the Daily Mail.
'He had made a pass at her and she'd mentioned; she'd said something about; you know; him being her boss and that that was inappropriate.'
US Representative Tony Gonzales, pictured in a campaign photo with his wife and six children presenting himself as a family man had two trysts in a cabin with a married aide before her suicide, a friend alleged
After uncovering the cheating, Adrian claims he and Aviles tried to save their marriage and attended counseling, but he finally had enough because she wouldn't quit her job and Gonzales' team wouldn't fire her.
Instead, she was told to take a paid month off work and was slowly black-listed when she returned, losing more and more responsibility, her husband said.
Adrian revealed she was 'spiraling' they were unable to reconcile after months of trying and he moved out with their son.
On September 13, Regina doused herself with gasoline while on the phone with someone; sources told the Daily Mail. She caught fire and was airlifted to San Antonio from her home in Uvalde.
She died the next day at the hospital, with her autopsy revealing she was drunk the night of the incident.
Gonzales, who is currently seeking re-election, may have broken the rules of his own employer by carrying on a sexual relationship with a subordinate - an allegation Gonzales has publicly denied once.
House Rule 23 in the Code of Official Conduct states that members of Congress may not have sexual relations with a person who works under their supervision.
For help and support contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline on 988