A disturbed Texas teen allegedly murdered his ex-girlfriend’s mother and her two younger siblings in what police are calling a shocking, targeted 'cowardly act of violence.'
Jennifer Rodriguez, 39, was discovered dead in her upscale Odessa, Texas, apartment alongside her 13-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son, after an unidentified teen unleashed a brutal massacre Tuesday evening, according to Odessa police.
Police responded to reports of a shooting at the Eighty Seventh Apartments — an upscale complex about 350 miles west of Dallas — only to find a grisly scene around 5:45 p.m.
Jennifer Rodriguez, 39, was discovered dead in her upscale Odessa, Texas, apartment following a shooting on Dec. 9, 2025. Gofundme
The suspected shooter, whose name has not been released due to his age, had a prior relationship with Rodriguez’s 15-year-old daughter and had reportedly planned to target her outside school — before abandoning that plan and heading to the apartment instead, police said.
The teenage girl was unharmed in the triple slaying, though police have not confirmed whether she was home when the shootings occurred.
“She is OK, she wasn’t injured … I’m sure after all this happened to her family, she’s not OK. But physically she was unharmed,” Odessa Police Chief Mike Gerke said at a press conference Wednesday.
The 15-year-old suspect fled the scene and was apprehended roughly 40 minutes after the shooting, police said.
From the time that it happened, we knew almost immediately who the suspect was and then to locate him, he was detained within 40 minutes,” Gerke said.
A 13-year-old girl was tragically killed in a shooting inside her own home. Gofundme
He has been charged with capital murder involving multiple victims, a capital felony, and is being held at the Ector County Youth Center.
Authorities have yet to reveal a motive behind the killings.
A handgun, believed to be the weapon used in the shooting, was recovered, and authorities are awaiting confirmation that it was indeed the firearm involved in the murders.
Gerke described the shooting as a "targeted" attack, emphasizing that it had no ties to gang activity.
The 9-year-old brother of the 15-year-old girl was found dead alongside his sister and mother. Gofundme
The heartbroken father of the children mourned the loss of his children and ex-wife, saying he never "expect this kind of tragedy to happen to any of us."
“Today, a young boy took the lives of my 9-year-old son, my 13-year-old daughter, and their mother, who was my ex-wife,” Roy Casey Martinez wrote on the GoFundMe fundraiser. “This is something that no one can really prepare themselves for because we don’t expect this kind of tragedy to happen to any of us. I am not a person who ever asks for help from anyone, but at this time, I don’t have a choice."
“My heart is extremely broken and I keep finding little pieces at a time wondering which piece goes where!! It will never be complete anymore but as long as I keep picking up these small pieces maybe one day it’ll form some type of shape again!!” Martinez said.
Gerke said his department knows who bought the gun but did not disclose how the teen obtained it.
“Evil does visit us from time to time,” Gerke said.
Texas allows the death penalty, but it cannot be applied to anyone who was under 18 when they committed a capital murder.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and friends, anyone connected with the tragedy last night. It was such a tragic and cowardly act of violence,” Gerke said.
