Howard Co. Man Convicted In Fatal Shooting Of Vehicle Passenger

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — A Frederick County jury has convicted a Howard County man in the shooting death of one person and the injury of others after he fired into the vehicle they all were in.

Jeffrey Josue Diaz, 26, has been found guilty of second-degree murder, five counts of attempted second-degree murder, six counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence, two counts of first-degree assault, possession of a handgun by a prohibited person and unlawful carrying of a loaded handgun.

According to the prosecution, a person called 911 around 11:38 p.m. on June 14, 2025, to report that their vehicle had been shot by someone in another vehicle with they were heading eastbound on Interstate 70 just before the Mt. Airy exit in Frederick County.

The victims’ vehicle, a 2018 Red GMC Sierra, was carrying six individuals and sustained damage from at least 10 shots fired into it by the passing vehicle. Three of the passengers were injured.

The driver of the vehicle that was shot at pulled over at a Shell gas station at 649 Lakeview Drive in Mount Airy, which is where first responders arrived. The person sitting in the middle seat of the front row, 20-year-old Eduardo Alexander Alvarado Urrea, suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and upper back. He was pronounced deceased at the scene, police reported.

The driver of the targeted vehicle was shot in the upper shoulder but survived the shooting and was taken to Sinai Hospital in Baltimore for medical treatment. A third passenger suffered an injury to the right side of his face from broken glass, prosecutors stated.

The Maryland State Police Criminal Enforcement Division – Homicide Unit conducted the investigation. Investigators learned that earlier that evening, the six people in the GMC Sierra had attended an event at the Frederick County Fairgrounds in Frederick.

Through witness interviews and surveillance footage, law enforcement determined that a fight happened at the fairgrounds between one of the vehicle’s occupants and Diaz. An event security guard reported interacting with Diaz shortly after the altercation, noting that Diaz had a cut and was bleeding from his forehead. The security guard saw Diaz leave the fairgrounds in a dark colored pickup truck shortly after the GMC Sierra, court documents showed.

After reviewing footage from the red-light cameras at the intersection of East Patrick Street and Monocacy Blvd., investigators identified the suspect vehicle as a black 2022 Dodge Ram that belong to a friend of Diaz, according to prosecution.

Cell phone mapping of Diaz's and the victim’s devices, and location information from the red GMC’s infotainment system, showed the Dodge Ram had caught up to the GMC Sierra on Interstate 70 eastbound and was near it at the time the shooting happened, prosecutors stated.

Diaz was sitting in the rear driver’s side seat of the Dodge Ram as traveled on Interstate 70 eastbound when he saw the GMC Sierra, lowered his window and fired multiple rounds into the GMC Sierra as they drove past it, the investigation revealed.

Diaz was arrested by the Maryland State Police on June 29, 2025, and booked into the Frederick County Adult Detention Center on a no-bond status. Diaz remains held without bond pending sentencing.