{"id":234892,"date":"2026-04-04T11:50:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T11:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/234892\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T11:50:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T11:50:21","slug":"kaufman-county-search-underway-for-18-year-old-murder-suspect-nbc-5-dallas-fort-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/234892\/","title":{"rendered":"Kaufman County search underway for 18-year-old murder suspect \u2013 NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Federal authorities and the Kaufman County Sheriff\u2019s Office are on the hunt for an 18-year-old capital murder suspect.<\/p>\n

Diego Rodriguez is accused of gunning down two 18-year-olds on Friday, March 27. The shooting claimed the life of one teen and left the other critically injured.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tNBC 5 NewsNBC 5 News<\/p>\n

Rodriguez and an unidentified second person are accused of firing more than 30 shots before stealing the victim\u2019s truck and running over one of the victims with it.<\/p>\n

Kace Leatherwood, 18, has succumbed to his injuries, his family confirms to NBC 5. The sheriff\u2019s office identified the second victim as 18-year-old Luis Velez.<\/p>\n

The shooting happened at about 10 p.m. in the area of County Roads 101 and 103 in Kaufman County<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Kace<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tLeatherwood familyLeatherwood family<\/p>\n

Kace Leatherwood, third from the left, was killed March 28, 2026, in Kaufman County.<\/p>\n

One of the injured victims managed to call 911 for help, according to a press release. <\/p>\n

Leatherwood\u2019s family told NBC 5 the second victim is trying to pull through in the hospital. NBC 5 has reached out to the Velez family.<\/p>\n

Since the shooting, the sheriff\u2019s office has issued multiple warrants for Rodriguez\u2019s arrest and has enlisted the Texas Rangers and the U.S. Marshals Service in the investigation.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez is 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighs about 130 pounds, according to authorities. It is unclear if he\u2019s believed to be driving the victim\u2019s truck or whether authorities believe he left the country.<\/p>\n

In a press release, the U.S. Marshals Service states: Do not attempt to apprehend this fugitive as he should be considered armed and dangerous. If you see him, please call 911 for immediate assistance. <\/p>\n

Anyone with information on Rodriguez’s whereabouts is urged to contact the U.S. Marshals Service at 202-307-9700 or the Kaufman County Crime Stoppers at 877-847-7522. The identities of tipsters will remain confidential, and anonymous tips may also be submitted via the U.S. Marshals Tip App.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Federal authorities and the Kaufman County Sheriff\u2019s Office are on the hunt for an 18-year-old capital murder suspect.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234893,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[803,102,104,103,6297],"class_list":{"0":"post-234892","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-crime-and-courts","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-headlines","11":"tag-dallas-news","12":"tag-kaufman-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}