Family of victim in Mission road rage murder speaks out

MISSION, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The family of a victim involved in a Mission road rage incident is speaking out after his murder.

25-year-old Jose Cruz Jr. was shot and killed on April 8 when he was traveling on the frontage road of Expressway 83 in Mission.

“He was such a good young man. Great brother. Great son," said Briana Cruz, Jose's brother. "He always did everything to have my mom happy.”

Briana added her brother was a happy young man with a big heart. Jose was scheduled to return to his job in Bay City but stayed in the Valley to be with his uncle who was in the hospital.

Jose was the middle child of five and the oldest of three sons.

“The middle baby. But he was my mom’s baby. The big baby. He was my mom’s pride and joy,” Briana Cruz said.

Briaham Alexis Pena was arraigned Tuesday and charged with Cruz's murder. Pena is being held on $2 million bond.

The Cruz family said Mission police have done very well conducting the investigation. Briana Cruz said she is grateful for the work police have been doing.

"They've been out there since the incident. They haven't stopped," Briana said, "They’ve been giving us calls like, you know what, we’ve received this. We have this information. Up to this point, they’ve still been keeping in touch.”

However, the family said they find it hard to believe this was an incident of road rage.

They say Jose was on his way to see some friends at the time of the shooting. He was on the phone with a friend who said she didn't hear any yelling or an altercation of any kind taking place. She said she heard what she thought could have been a car crash then Jose stopped talking. The friend became concerned for his well-being and alerted the family something was wrong.

Briana said that if it weren't for her brother being on the phone they would not have found out about the incident until later on.

Believing Jose could have been hurt in a crash, Briana picked up her mother and they headed to the hospital. Briana said she saw a lot of police activity in the area where the incident occurred but had no way of knowing the crime scene had anything to do with her brother.

When they got to the hospital in McAllen, the family was put in a room to wait for word on their loved one. After waiting a few minutes, officers and doctors came in to tell them he did not make it. The family was not able to see Jose at that time. Briana didn't get to see him until the funeral.

The family also said they believe there's more to the story. They said Jose was shot eleven times, with three shots making an impact.

Briana said the consensus among the family is that more than one person could have been involved. “11 shots, directly to one person. So, it doesn’t make sense. As of now, there’s only been one person that’s been taken in. But I feel like there’s still more”, she said.

Jose's murder has been another devastating loss the Cruz family has had to endure. His father died in a car crash eight months ago and his hospitalized uncle passed away two days after the shooting.

The incident is still under investigation.

The family said the community has been very supportive of her family and instrumental in helping with the arrest of Pena.

They encouraged anyone with information about the case to reach out to Mission Police or Mission Crime Stoppers at (956) 581-8477.