A 23-year-old man has been charged with murder after a fatal shooting at a Tyler intersection that police described as a road rage incident. The victim, a 29-year-old passenger in a Tesla, died from his injuries at a local hospital. Authorities booked the suspect into jail the same evening.
The incident occurred around 5:10 p.m. on Friday at the intersection of East Grande Blvd. and Paluxy Drive in Tyler, Texas. According to Tyler police, Dayton Alexander Morgan, 23, was driving a truck that had stopped behind a white Tesla in the eastbound lanes. The passenger of the Tesla, identified as Trevor Julian, 29, of Whitehouse, exited the vehicle and approached Morgan. Morgan then fired shots at Julian, who was struck and transported to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The Tesla contained a female driver, Julian as the passenger, and children inside. Morgan's truck had two men in it. Following the shooting, Morgan remained at the scene and was detained by officers. He was formally arrested on a murder charge and booked into the Smith County Jail shortly before 11 p.m. that Friday. His bond was set at $1 million.
Trevor Julian had graduated from Carthage High School in 2015. A 2017 post from the U.S. Marines indicated that he served as an automotive maintenance technician and lance corporal with Headquarters Regiment, 3d Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, stationed at Camp Kinser in Okinawa, Japan.
The case remains under investigation by Tyler police, with no further details released on the circumstances leading to the confrontation.