Shortly before 4 p.m. on May 7, 2026, gunfire in the Durham Park neighborhood of southeast Houston left 16-year-old Jadiel Rodriguez dead and another male teenager critically wounded. Officers and paramedics found Jadiel in the 8700 block of Blackhawk Ridge Lane with multiple gunshot wounds; he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police described the attack as a drive-by shooting.

Jadiel, known as Jay, was a Dobie High School student who wanted to become a welder. Family members remembered him as courageous, funny and loving; he enjoyed boxing, basketball and video games. Mourners left a memorial at a park he frequented, including a custom-welded nameplate. Those items were stolen after the funeral but some were recovered when a neighbor confronted a man seen taking them.

The Houston Police Department Homicide Division is investigating. No arrests have been made; authorities have named a person of interest known only as Junior and released a photo asking for help identifying him. Does anyone in southeast Houston recognize Junior or have information about what happened that afternoon?