AUSTIN (KXAN) — A man was shot and killed in a road rage incident near the University of Texas campus on Saturday, Austin police said.
The shooting happened around 4:08 p.m. on the southbound Interstate 35 service road at Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.
54-year-old Adan Marez was involved in a road rage incident that “spanned for miles” with the occupants of a gold sedan. According to court records, the people in the Sedan believed a Jeep cut them off as they exited I-35. Marez was a passenger in the Jeep.
When both vehicles stopped at a red light, Marez got out of his vehicle.
The driver of the sedan, who police identified as Jacob Gonzalez, 21, then shot and killed Marez, according to an APD press release Tuesday. Marez was not armed at the time.
Gonzalez, was arrested and charged with murder, a first-degree felony. He was booked into the Travis County Jail on a $1 million bond.
Gonzalez admits to shooting Marez, says he didn’t mean to kill him
According to the arrest affidavit, Gonzalez and another person in the sedan told police they honked and threw trash at the Jeep Marez was in. Gonzalez stayed on scene and told the officer he shot Marez, but claimed “it was supposed to be just a warning shot. I didn’t mean for it to be fatal.”
Multiple witnesses – both involved and not involved in the road rage incident – said Marez approached Gonzalez’s car unarmed, and the two got into an argument. Two witnesses who were cited in the affidavit said Gonzalez shot Marez as Marez walked away.
Gonzalez told police Marez got within about a foot of his car and acted “like he was going to swing on me.”
The arrest affidavit closes with this summary by APD:
“Adan Marez, while unarmed, approached Jacob’s vehicle and engaged in a verbal argument. Jacob was untouched by Adan. Jacob admitted to shooting Adan, and failed to articulate any threat capable of causing serious bodily injury or death that Adan posed.”
APD statement in Gonzalez’ arrest affidavit.
Attorney information wasn’t available for Gonzalez as of Tuesday.
Could this be a self defense case?
According to defense attorney Benjamin Gergen, who is unaffiliated with this case, a jury would have to believe Marez posed a threat of death or serious bodily injury to Gonzalez for the suspect to win the self-defense argument.
The affidavit doesn’t say anything about Marez physically opening the door to Gonzalez’ car, and Gergen said that’s a key factor.
“If you’re the driver of that car, that person is pulling on the passenger door and is actually able to enter your vehicle, you’re presumed to be a reasonable person because they have entered your vehicle,” Gergen said.
He said road rage cases often add another legal layer to this process.
“The issue on any sort of self defense claim, is that you as the actor claiming self defense, you cannot have initiated the incident that you’re then claiming self defense in,” he said.
This is Austin’s seventh homicide of the year, according to APD.
“Due to the nature of this offense and the large amount of people in the area at the time of the shooting, it is believed privately-filmed video of this incident may exist,” police said.
Anyone with footage of the incident is asked to submit to Detective Mendall Edwards with APD’s homicide unit at mendall.edwards@austintexas.gov. Anyone with information can also contact detectives at 512-974-TIPS or submit an anonymous tip by calling 512-472-8477 or visiting austincrimestoppers.org.
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