Jose Delacueva

An autumn evening in North Tulsa turned into a scene of terror and tragedy on September 23, 2010, ending the life of Jose Sergio Montes De La Cueva. Known in some records as Jose Delacueva, he was a 37-year-old Hispanic man who found himself the specific target of a violent and calculated home invasion. The events of that night left a family shattered and a case that remains a painful, unanswered question for more than a decade.

The attack occurred at a residence in the 2100 block of East Tecumseh Street. The quiet of the evening was broken when a group of three or four armed men forced their way into the house through a side door. Their entry was not random; they were not simple burglars. Witnesses later told police that the intruders, all carrying handguns, immediately took control, forcing the home's occupants to the floor. They had a single purpose and a single name on their lips, demanding to know the whereabouts of “Jose Montes De La Cueva.”

Their aggressive search through the home led them to Jose. The gunmen separated him from the others, taking him into another room and closing the door. The terrified witnesses, held captive on the floor, heard a single, sharp gunshot echo from that room. The armed men re-emerged moments later, their immediate, violent goal apparently accomplished. Jose had been shot in the head, left with a critical injury as his attackers prepared to leave.

But the ordeal was not over for everyone in the house. Before fleeing, the gunmen grabbed two other people from the residence, forcing them out of the home and into their vehicle. They drove away, abducting the two victims and subjecting them to a brutal assault. After being beaten and pistol-whipped, the two captives were pushed out of the moving car about a mile from the house. One of them, despite his injuries, managed to run to a nearby convenience store to get help, reporting the shooting on East Tecumseh Street and the violence he had just endured.

Responding to the report, Tulsa Police officers were dispatched to the home at 2127 East Tecumseh. Inside, they found Jose Delacueva, gravely wounded but still alive. He was rushed to a local hospital, where medical staff fought to save his life. For five days, he clung on, but the damage from the gunshot wound to his head was too severe. Jose Sergio Montes De La Cueva died from his injuries on September 28, 2010.

The Tulsa Police Department’s Homicide Unit immediately launched an investigation. Detectives treated the case not as a random act but as a targeted attack, given the assailants asked for Jose by name. In the course of their work, they identified a person of interest, a man named Gabriel Nathan Smith. Investigators located and questioned Smith about his potential involvement in the deadly home invasion. However, following the interview, he was released, and no charges were ever filed against him in connection with the murder.

In the years since Jose’s death, the investigation has grown cold. The group of men who stormed the home, shot him, and terrorized his friends have never been identified or captured. The motive behind their specific targeting of Jose remains a mystery locked away in the silence of an unsolved case. As of September 2024, no arrests have been made, and the homicide of Jose Delacueva is officially unresolved. The trail that began with a violent entry and a specific name went cold, leaving behind only the lingering pain for those who knew and loved him, and the open question of who was responsible for the brutal crime on East Tecumseh Street.