On April 8, 2024, 25-year-old Jose Cruz Jr. was fatally shot in Mission, Texas, during a road rage incident. Around 8:57 p.m. officers responded to reports of gunfire near the 2500 block of West Expressway 83 and found a black Chevrolet Silverado with multiple bullet holes partially parked on the roadway. Cruz was in the driver’s seat with several gunshot wounds, including one to the head, and was taken to McAllen Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators arrested 23-year-old Briaham Alexis Peña and charged Peña with first-degree murder. According to an affidavit, Peña admitted to shooting at Cruz’s vehicle multiple times during the road rage incident and later fled to Díaz Ordaz, Tamaulipas, Mexico before turning himself in at the Rio Grande City port of entry. Peña cooperated with investigators and a 9mm Glock believed to be the murder weapon was recovered. Peña’s bond was initially set at $2 million and later reduced to $750,000, a move that prompted outrage from Cruz’s family and members of the community. The Cruz family, still grieving the recent loss of Jose’s father eight months earlier, continues to seek justice and asks anyone with information to contact the Mission Police Department or Mission Crime Stoppers.

Did anyone witness the shooting or see the vehicles involved that evening?