Suspect arrested in Dallas hit-and-run that killed a recent Texas Tech graduate
A suspect has been arrested in a hit-and-run crash in Dallas that killed a 23-year-old recent Texas Tech University graduate, according to jail records.
Jose Hernandez De Leon, 31, was arrested on Monday, Aug. 11, and faces a charge of collision involving death.
The victim, Seth Rains, was walking back to a friend’s apartment after a concert early on the morning of July 27 when a black Lexus sedan hit him near the intersection of Turtle Creek and Market Center boulevards, Dallas police said.
The driver of the car left without stopping to help, police said.
Officers arrived at the scene about 2:40 a.m and Rains was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
After crash, suspect reported car was stolen
A broken piece of a car mirror was found at the crime scene. Investigators used video from security cameras to get the license plate number for the black Lexus, according to De Leon’s arrest warrant affidavit obtained by KDFW-TV.
De Leon reported his car stolen about 45 minutes after the fatal crash, according to the affidavit. But surveillance footage revealed that De Leon was driving the car both before and after the time of the crash, and a video showed him leaving the nightclub where he claimed the car had been stolen, police wrote in the affidavit.
Investigators reviewed the videos and determined that De Leon’s actions before and after the crash were inconsistent with those of someone who had just stolen the vehicle, “making it highly unlikely that it was stolen,” according to the affidavit.
De Leon has previously been arrested on drug-related charges, multiple counts of driving while intoxicated, and driving with a suspended license, according to court records.
His bond has been set at $50,000.
Hit-and-run victim’s life cut short
Seth Rains, whose family lives in Arlington, had recently moved to Austin to be closer to his best friends. On Saturday night, July 26, he visited Dallas to attend a concert with one of those friends, his mother, Cyndi Rains, said in an interview with the Star-Telegram.
Seth graduated from Mansfield Summit High School in Arlington and then from Texas Tech University in 2024 with a degree in personal financial planning, according to his obituary.
Cyndi described her son as a hard worker In his free time, he was cooking, running or working out. He was organized, selfless, and a helper, she said.
Seth was at his new job for a month, but he had already made an impression on his coworkers, his mother said.
“We just loved that young man so much, and he was loved,” she said. “And we can certainly feel it.”