Nico LaHood has a theory on why Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed is so mad at him.

“She's an absolute pharisee,” he said. “I'm exposing the pharisee, and the Pharisees were upset with Jesus because he spoke truth.”

The Pharisees were members of an ancient Jewish sect whom Jesus in the New Testament excoriated for their hypocrisy. No word yet on whether LaHood is the Second Coming.

The “truth” that LaHood spoke was silenced on Thursday, when Reed raised Cain about a radio spot by her political opponent and persuaded every Clear Channel station in the area to yank it from the air.

LaHood is challenging Reed, a 16-year incumbent Republican, in the Nov. 4 election.

“Ever since District Attorney Susan Reed entered office she has abused her power,” the radio spot charged. “One top staff member killed a mother walking her baby near a school and Reed failed to properly investigate the incident and declined to file charges.”

Here, LaHood is referring to a horrific accident that occurred 14 years ago.

At about 8 a.m. in October 2000, in Terrell Hills, Catherine Babbitt was driving a BMW sedan on her way to work as head of the Family Violence and Victim Protection section of the Bexar County district attorney's office.

Babbitt told police she saw Anne Gaynor, 37, pushing a baby carriage on the side of the road. Inside was 18-month-old Tess.

Gaynor “walked out in front of her car without looking back,” and Babbitt “tried to avoid her by swerving ... but was unable to avoid striking” the mother and her baby, according to a police report.

Gaynor suffered massive head trauma and died the next day. Tess survived.

The Terrell Hills Police Department investigated with assistance from the Bexar County Sheriff's Office. Neither agency found any cause to file a criminal complaint against Babbitt.

Eight days after the accident, Reed wrote to then-25th Judicial District Attorney W.C. Kirkendall.

“Because the driver of the vehicle is an assistant district attorney in my office, it is my desire to have an independent review of the events to determine if the conclusion reached by the Terrell Hills Police Department and the Bexar County Sheriff's Office, are (sic) correct,” Reed wrote.

About a month later, Kirkendall responded with a letter. After reviewing the case with the regional head of the Texas Department of Public Safety's accident reconstruction team, he agreed that no charges should be filed.

“If this or a similar case were submitted to my office, my office would neither seek nor recommend an indictment,” Kirkendall wrote.

For LaHood, this was not sufficient.

“It appears to me (the case) should have been presented to a grand jury,” he said.

In his law office on Friday, LaHood scrutinized the police report.

“Look at where the point of impact was and look at where the skid marks are, and then read what (Babbitt's) story was,” he said. “She hits (Gaynor) right next to the curb. Where was she driving, on the sidewalk? The skid marks were after the point of impact.

“It doesn't pass the smell test,” LaHood continued. “This to me reeks of someone texting, putting on makeup, on the phone.”

To me, LaHood's attack reeks of lurid desperation. Reed herself could be feeling desperate, though, in a race that both camps said feels “tight.”

This week, LaHood revealed in a campaign finance report that personal injury attorney Thomas J. Henry continues to shovel piles of cash to him. Overall, Henry has contributed more than $1.2 million to LaHood's campaign, most of it for advertising.

But even the almighty dollar couldn't keep the “mother killer” ad on the air.

At Reed's urging, her media planner, Janet Hancock, alerted Cox Media Group, WOAI and KTSA to the letters that Reed and Kirkendall wrote in 2000.

All three stations agreed to pull the spot off the air.

“It's highly unusual that a station would agree to take down an opponent's spot,” Hancock told me.