AUSTIN, Texas — A 44-year-old man has been charged with murder after he allegedly provided drugs that killed another man in Southeast Austin last year.
Rodney Rawlings was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the June 3, 2025, death of Diego Rocha, according to the Austin Police Department.
Officers responded to a welfare check at about 5:55 p.m. that day in the 6600 block of Willow Way after a caller said her brother appeared to be dead and would not wake up, police said. When officers arrived, Austin Fire Department personnel were already on scene performing life-saving measures on Rocha, who was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m., according to police.
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Homicide detectives and crime scene specialists processed the scene. The Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office later determined Rocha’s cause of death was the toxic effects of fentanyl and alprazolam, police said.
The case was investigated by the department’s Narcotics Support Unit, whose detectives found evidence that Rawlings had provided the drugs that led to Rocha’s death. Rawlings was then charged with first-degree murder.
Anyone with information is asked to call Austin police at 512-974-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program at austincrimestoppers.org or by calling 512-472-8477.