On the morning of September 23, 2023, at about 9:40 a.m., Harker Heights police responded to reports of a vehicle crash and possible gunshots near Prospector Trail and Cattail Circle. Officers found 41-year-old Johnathan Rhodan of Jarrell, Texas, deceased at the scene with apparent gunshot wounds. Justice of the Peace Nicola J. James pronounced Rhodan dead at 11:40 a.m.

Investigators linked a damaged vehicle seen near Stillhouse Lake Road to the initial crash. When officers attempted to stop that vehicle the driver fled, leading to a pursuit that ended when the car crashed at Stillhouse Lake Road and FM 2484. The driver, identified as 31-year-old Joshua Deshun Lyda, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was treated at Scott and White Hospital in Temple.

Lyda was arrested after his hospital release and charged on September 25 with evading arrest with a vehicle; the next day he was charged with the murder of Johnathan Rhodan and booked into the Bell County Jail on bonds totaling $2.5 million. A Bell County Grand Jury later indicted Lyda on murder and evading arrest with a vehicle. Does anyone have information about Rhodan’s movements that morning or who might have seen the damaged vehicle before the crash?