A teenager is dead, another is recovering, and the man suspected of pulling the trigger is still out there — somewhere. Authorities in Kaufman County, Texas, are asking the public for help finding him.
It was just before 10 p.m. on March 26 when law enforcement responded to a shooting on County Road 103 in Kaufman County. They arrived to find two 18-year-olds: Kace Dean Leatherwood, who died from his gunshot wounds, and Luis Velez, who survived. Velez’s current condition has not been publicly disclosed. The deaths of young people in rural Texas communities don’t always make national headlines, but this one has drawn a widening circle of law enforcement attention — and a family left demanding answers.
A Manhunt Takes Shape
By March 27, a capital murder warrant had been issued out of Dallas for Diego Carlos Rodriguez, 18. On Thursday, U.S. Marshals escalated their efforts, releasing a formal wanted poster for Rodriguez — described as 5 feet 4 inches tall, 130 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes — who was last seen in Kaufman County. The charge is capital murder. That’s not a detail investigators throw around lightly.
The Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation, but they’re not doing it alone. The Texas Rangers and the U.S. Marshals Service are both assisting — a level of involvement that signals just how seriously authorities are treating this case. As of now, no arrests have been made, and both suspects remain at large. No motive has been released publicly.
That’s the part that stings for people close to the victim. Family members of Kace Dean Leatherwood have identified Rodriguez as one of the suspects involved in the shooting — though authorities have not officially confirmed that connection in public statements. It’s a distinction that matters legally, but it does little to soften the grief of a family left waiting for justice.
A Community Mourns
Who was Kace Dean Leatherwood? By all accounts, someone whose absence left a real hole in his community. On April 7, friends and neighbors gathered for a candlelight vigil at Rockwall and Brin Church of Christ in Terrell, starting at 7:30 p.m. Funeral services followed on April 11. The kind of sendoff that small towns do quietly, and with a grief that doesn’t need cameras.
Still, grief alone won’t close this case. Investigators need the public’s help. The U.S. Marshals are urging anyone with information about the shooting or Rodriguez’s whereabouts to come forward immediately. Tips can be submitted directly to the Marshals Service — and given that two suspects remain unaccounted for, investigators aren’t ruling anything out.
The Search Continues
A statewide manhunt. A capital murder charge. A community still processing the loss of an 18-year-old on a county road in the dark. Whatever happened that night on County Road 103, the people who know the most about it haven’t been found yet — and until they are, Kaufman County won’t have much peace.
Some cases close fast. This one, so far, hasn’t.
