Photo taken minute before deadly shooting gets ride share driver arrested, TX cops say
A photo taken one minute before a father was shot led to the arrest of a ride share driver a week after the deadly road rage incident, Texas police said.
Edward Jimenez, 45, walked into a gas station on Dec. 5 and told the clerk he had been shot, witnesses told Houston police. Then, he walked out of the convenience store, leaving a trail of blood, and collapsed, police said.
A witness started to perform chest compressions until officers arrived. Jimenez was taken to the hospital, where he died, police said.
An autopsy revealed that the man was shot in the neck, police said.
The suspected shooter, 47-year-old Armando Ruiz Diaz, was charged with murder on Dec. 12 after a photo found on Jimenez’s phone helped identify him, police said in a criminal complaint.
A judge set the ride share driver’s bond at $500,000 during his arraignment on Dec. 15, according to court records.
McClatchy News could not reach Ruiz Diaz’s attorney for comment.
After Jimenez was taken to the hospital, officers at the scene found three bullet markings on his pickup truck, according to the complaint.
Detectives then searched the victim’s phone and found a photo taken at 8:53 a.m. on Dec. 5, which was about one minute before Jimenez was shot, police said.
In the background of the victim’s photo, police noted a vehicle with a “Lyft/Uber” sticker on the windshield, according to the complaint. They learned that the vehicle, a Toyota RAV4, had been involved in two other road rage incidents, police said.
The car was registered to Ruiz Diaz, the complaint said.
“If he didn’t take that picture, it’s probably probably would have never found this person,” Leila Jimenez, the man’s daughter, told KHOU.
Ruiz Diaz told police that he saw a pickup truck cross through multiple lanes of traffic, and it cut him off, according to court documents. Ruiz Diaz said he threw a water bottle at the truck, then said he heard a gunshot as the truck got off of the freeway, according to court documents.
Police searched the ride share driver’s home and found a gun, court documents said.
The family told KHOU that Jimenez was a loving husband and father.
“He had a really big heart and was hard working and he was very devoted to his family. Yesterday was my dad’s service and there were so many people. There are people I’ve never even met before that knew my dad and it’s just good feeling all of that support from everybody,” Leila Jimenez said.
