Jason Cano-Ortega, 23, of West Palm Beach, Florida, died on September 13, 2025, after a gun fired inside a moving car on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard. Investigators say the bullet came from the back seat, passed through the front passenger seat and struck him in the lower back while he rode up front with friends. He was taken from HCA Florida JFK North Hospital to St. Mary’s Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Police identified 20-year-old Xavier Daniel Gomez as the person who had been handling a semiautomatic handgun in the rear passenger seat when it discharged. Witnesses told detectives the gun went off while he was manipulating it, and damage to the front seat matched the documented trajectory. Gomez surrendered a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol at the hospital, was arrested and charged with manslaughter by culpable negligence, pleaded not guilty, and was placed on house arrest while the case proceeds. Occupants’ statements and arrest documents describe the shooting as accidental.

Family members said Cano-Ortega was a devoted young father to a 3-year-old daughter and described him as hardworking and widely loved, and they want a fuller accounting of what happened in the car that evening. Did anyone who was in that area on Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard on September 13 see the vehicle or events that night?