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A Mission man accused of shooting and killing a driver during a road rage incident in early April was indicted Tuesday, according to court documents.
Briaham Alexis Peña, 23, allegedly killed Jose Cruz Jr., 26, by shooting at his vehicle and striking him in the head on April 8.
At about 8:57 p.m., Mission police were dispatched to 2515 W. Expressway 83 in reference to shots fired from a vehicle. That’s where they found a black 2020 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 partially parked on the roadway.
Cruz was still inside displaying a gunshot wound to his head.
As police rendered aid, they discovered Cruz had been shot multiple times and he was then transported to the South Texas Health System McAllen.
On April 11, a detective received a tip through the Mission Police Department Crime Stoppers regarding the investigation where an anonymous caller stated the other vehicle involved in the shooting was abandoned at 17379 El Conejo Drive in Peñitas.
The caller also stated that Peña resides at 420 Erma St. in Mission.
Authorities followed up on the tip but were unable to find the vehicle.
The next day, police were given another tip stating that the vehicle they were looking for was hidden behind a residence located at 6003 Martina St. in Mission and that it was going to be picked up.
When police arrived, they made contact with the homeowner who gave them consent to search the property, where they located the 2000 blue and gray bottom-trimmed Dodge Dakota behind the resident without plates.
A vin check of the vehicle revealed that it was registered to Peña.
Inside the truck, police also found a spent casing on the floorboard of the passenger’s side.
Police were given consent to check the residence’s surveillance cameras which showed a gray Jeep registered to Peña’s stepfather, Salvador Salins, followed by the Dakota.
“In the video, a male and female subject are observed arriving in the Jeep, while a male subject is driving the blue and gray Dodge pick-up which they proceeded to conceal in the back of the residence within the property,” the affidavit said.
The Dakota was then impounded for investigation purposes.
On April 14, authorities made contact with Salinas at the Rio Grande City Port of Entry and provided a voluntary statement implicating Peña in the shooting.
“Furthermore, Mr. Salinas informed that after the shooting, his stepson Briaham Alexis Peña … told him that he had shot at a truck several times over a road rage incident, in self-defense, and then left the scene after the shooting,” the affidavit said.
Salinas informed authorities that Peña had already crossed to Mexico and was in Diaz Ordaz, Tamaulipas.
At around 1:39 p.m., the next day, Peña turned himself in at the same port of entry and was transported to the Mission Police Department.
He remains jailed on a $1 million bond, according to jail records.
