As investigators dug deeper into the case, they reportedly uncovered a chilling motive in the murder: retaliation.
SAN ANTONIO — Police documents reveal a tragic tale of revenge, violence and fatal consequences.
In the early morning hours of Jan. 25, police said a drive-by shooting took the life of 25-year-old Jennifer Rodriguez.
As investigators dug deeper into the case, they reportedly uncovered a chilling motive in the murder: retaliation.
According to an arrest warrant, police believe the killer, Ethan Gonzales, and his mother orchestrated the targeted shooting.
But, police said the carefully orchestrated attack led to an unexpected and tragic twist that claimed another life that same night.
According to police documents, a gunman unleashed a violent attack at a northeast side home on Jan. 25.
Detectives report finding over 30 rifle shell casings on the scene off the 7000 block of Woodlake Pkwy, marking the violent assault that took the life of Rodriguez.
Investigators said Rodriguez had been shot once in the targeted drive-by shooting, and died less than an hour after the attack.
At the same time San Antonio police officers were arriving to the scene of the shooting, Bexar County deputies patrolling nearby heard the gunshots and raced toward the scene.
According to an arrest warrant, deputies then spotted the suspect vehicle fleeing the scene of the drive-by shooting.
Deputies said the car was traveling at high speeds and moments later, the driver lost control and slammed into a pole off Walzem Rd.
Ethan Gonzales was in the passenger seat of the crashed car and tried to run from the scene, but deputies said they soon caught up with him and he was taken into custody.
The woman driving the getaway car was killed instantly, deputies said, and later identified as the mother of the accused shooter, Ethan Gonzales.
As detectives pieced together the events leading up to the fatal shooting, they uncovered a chilling motive leading them to believe this wasn’t a random crime, according to an arrest warrant.
According to police documents, witnesses told investigators Rodriguez stabbed a woman during a heated argument months before the fatal shooting.
In a shocking turn of fate the woman who Rodriguez had reportedly stabbed, was the same person driving the getaway vehicle the night of the murder, and the mother of the accused killer, Ethan Gonzales.
Gonzales has been charged with murder and now sits behind bars, facing the consequences of a deadly vendetta that spiraled out control.