Road rage turns into murder, witness becomes suspect arrested after grisly Texas shooting

What initially appeared to be a car accident on a Texas highway later turned out to be the scene of a deadly shooting.

KSAT reports that Joseph Banales, a nursing student at the University of the Incarnate Word, was found dead in Selma on April 15, 2023. His vehicle had struck the concrete median of I-35 near the Forum around 11:45 p.m.

Emergency responders discovered that Banales had been shot in the head. The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the gunshot was the cause of death.

On Thursday night, Jacob Daniel Serna, 29, was arrested in connection with Banales’ death.

Serna and his then-wife were initially questioned as witnesses to the accident.

According to an arrest warrant obtained by KSAT, Banales nearly collided with another car while trying to change lanes. The car in question was described as a dark blue or black sports car with a “loud exhaust system.”

The affidavit said the sports car slowed down next to Banales’ passenger before driving off at a “high rate of speed.” Shortly after that interaction, Banales’ car crashed.

A year-long investigation has led law enforcement to focus more on Serna and his wife. Their stories have changed over the course of interviews, according to ABC News.

Serna’s wife initially claimed to have seen a blue sports car, similar in color to their blue Ford Mustang, nearly hit Banales and speed away. Serna initially claimed not to have seen anything and that his wife had witnessed the accident.

On July 23, 2024, Serna and his now-estranged wife were questioned again. This time, Serna’s wife stated that her husband saw the blue sports car and tried to accelerate to get a better look, but it was going too fast. Shortly after, the accident occurred. Serna continued to claim that he saw nothing.

When investigators confronted Serna with his wife’s updated account, he adjusted his story to more closely match hers, but provided vague answers and omitted details he should have known.

Serna informed law enforcement that he had previously owned a firearm, which he kept in his glove compartment, but claimed he had since pawned it.

Law enforcement was able to locate Serna’s gun by matching his name to pawn shop records.

On August 14, 2024, the affidavit stated that Serna’s gun had “similar characteristics to the bullet recovered during the autopsy,” although further testing was needed.

On Thursday, Serna’s ex-wife was questioned again. This time, she admitted that Serna became angry when Banales nearly crashed into her car, prompting him to load his gun, point it at Banales and then shoot. “The gun went off and it scared me,” she said in her statement.

After the incident, Serna’s wife made him turn around to check what had happened.

During the investigation, license plate reader databases “revealed only one vehicle matching the description of a blue sports car with a loud exhaust pipe”: Serna’s car, police said, according to KSAT.

On Thursday, Serna was arrested without incident on murder charges and booked into the Bexar County Jail. There was no mention of whether his wife would be charged.

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(Featured Image: Joseph Banales/Handout; Jacob Daniel Serna/Bexar County PD)