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Insets, left to right: Damien G. Valdez (Ector County Sheriff’s Office), Jessica Rodriguez, her 9-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter (GoFundMe). Background: The area near 8740 Hunter Miller Way in Odessa, Texas, where a 15-year-old allegedly murdered his ex-girlfriend’s mom, 9-year-old brother and 13-year-old sister (KIII/YouTube).
A Texas teenager, accused of initially planning to shoot his ex-girlfriend outside her school but then deciding to murder her family, is set to be tried as an adult.
This week, a judge in Ector County ruled that Damien Gabriel Valdez will face trial as an adult for the horrific triple homicide that occurred in Odessa in December 2025. According to local NBC affiliate KWES, Valdez is charged with one count of capital murder of multiple persons, classified as a first-degree felony.
As previously detailed by Law&Crime, Valdez was 15 years old when he allegedly committed the murders of 39-year-old Jessica Rodriguez, her 9-year-old son, and her 13-year-old daughter.
The tragic series of events reportedly stemmed from the breakup between Valdez and his 15-year-old girlfriend.
Investigators revealed that the suspect had initially intended to target the girl outside her school. However, he “changed his mind” and instead went to her apartment, where he encountered her family. There, he allegedly shot Rodriguez, his ex-girlfriend’s mother, and then proceeded to kill her two younger siblings before fleeing the scene on foot, according to police reports.
Officers with the Odessa Police Department responded to reports of gunfire around 5:45 p.m. on Dec. 9, 2025, at the 87th Street Apartments on Hunter Miller Way. When they arrived, they found the three victims dead inside the residence.
Police arrested the teen roughly 40 minutes later after spotting him walking along Andrews Highway, according to Odessa Police Chief Mike Gerke.
Authorities allegedly recovered a handgun from Valdez, but have not publicly said how he obtained the firearm believed to have been used in the attack.
Officials have not said whether the ex-girlfriend was inside the apartment when the shooting occurred.
Following his arrest, Valdez was held at the Ector County Youth Center while the state sought to transfer the case to adult court.
Odessa Police Chief Mike Gerke described the horrific attack as being “deliberate.”
“It was such a tragic and cowardly act of violence,” Gerke said during a December news briefing on the murders. “It’s the kind of thing that really marks a community. Particularly in the holiday season, it’s a hurtful, horrible thing.”
During a certification hearing held this week, a judge ruled the teen should face prosecution as an adult, KWES reported. Such hearings allow a court to determine whether a juvenile defendant should be transferred to adult court based on factors such as the seriousness of the offense and the defendant’s background.
With the ruling, the case will now proceed through the adult criminal court system. Under Texas law, capital murder of multiple persons is punishable by life in prison for defendants who were under 18 at the time of the crime.
Prosecutors have said the case will next go to a grand jury, local CBS affiliate KOSA reported.