Police say three family members were killed within minutes on Dec. 9 before officers arrested the suspect nearby.
ODESSA, Texas — The killing itself unfolded in less than an hour, but the legal shift took months: a 15-year-old accused in the fatal shooting of a woman and her two children in Odessa has now been certified to stand trial as an adult.
That decision matters because it changes the case from a closely held juvenile matter into an adult prosecution centered on one of Odessa’s most closely watched homicide investigations. Authorities say the suspect, Damien Gabriel Valdez, killed 39-year-old Jessica Rodriguez, her 9-year-old son and her 13-year-old daughter after a breakup with Rodriguez’s 15-year-old daughter. The move to adult court also clarifies the next phase. Prosecutors have said they intended to take the case to a grand jury after the transfer decision.
Public records begin the chronology at 5:45 p.m. on Dec. 9, 2025, when Odessa police said officers were dispatched to the 87th Street Apartments at 8740 Hunter Miller Way on a report of a shooting. Officers entered an apartment and found three victims dead from gunshot wounds. Police did not initially release many details beyond saying the suspect was known to the dead and that they believed the violence was an isolated incident. That first statement told residents two things at once: there was no broad public threat, and the shooting likely arose from a relationship or family connection rather than a random attack. In the hours after that first notice, the names of the victims were not yet public, but the shape of the case had already emerged as one involving a home, a known suspect and multiple deaths in a single apartment.
The second part of the timeline came the next day, when authorities said a 15-year-old male had been charged with capital murder of multiple persons and was being held at the Ector County Youth Center. Police later identified the suspect as Valdez after the case moved toward adult court. By then, investigators had filled in the allegation that gave the case national attention: they said the violence followed the breakup of a teenage relationship and that Valdez had first planned to shoot his ex-girlfriend outside her school. According to investigators, he changed his mind, went instead to her family’s apartment and shot her mother, younger brother and younger sister. Police have not publicly said whether the ex-girlfriend was inside the apartment during the shooting, and they have not publicly described what evidence they will use to support the allegation about the abandoned school attack plan.
The next stretch of time was slower, but no less important. Valdez remained in custody while prosecutors sought certification for adult court, a process that required a judge to decide whether a juvenile defendant should be transferred into the adult system. Local reports said that decision came March 10 in County Court-at-Law Judge Brooke Hendricks’ courtroom in Ector County. The ruling did not resolve guilt or innocence, but it did answer a major procedural question. From that point on, the case no longer centered on whether it would remain in juvenile court. It centered on how the adult criminal process would handle a defendant who was 15 at the time of the alleged offense. Under Texas law, a defendant under 18 cannot be sentenced to death for capital murder, but can still face life in prison if convicted.
Even with the broad outline established, key minutes in the case remain murky in the public record. Police have said Valdez was arrested about 40 minutes after the shootings while walking along Andrews Highway. Authorities have also said a handgun was recovered, but they have not publicly explained where the gun came from, whether it was legally owned by someone else, or whether any adult could be charged for access to it. Those missing details are not small. They could shape later hearings, help explain how prosecutors frame intent and planning, and determine whether the case expands beyond a single defendant. Officials also have not publicly said whether there were prior threats reported to school officials, family members or police before Dec. 9. In a case that now includes the allegation of a changed plan from school to home, those unanswered questions may become central evidence later.
The social timeline has run alongside the legal one. Chief Mike Gerke described the shooting after the arrest as “deliberate” and called it “such a tragic and cowardly act of violence.” Those remarks signaled how police viewed the case from the start. Community members, meanwhile, focused on the family that was killed. Public mourning after the shooting highlighted Rodriguez’s role as a mother and the ages of the two children who died with her. Jill Miller, whose organization owns the apartment complex, later said the victims “still had a lot of life to live.” The language used by officials and neighbors kept the story grounded in loss, not only in court procedure. That has made each legal update feel less like an isolated filing and more like a public marker in a case the city has carried since early December.
Where the matter stands now is clear in sequence, even if not yet complete in proof: the shooting happened on Dec. 9, police arrested a suspect within the hour, prosecutors held the defendant in juvenile custody while seeking transfer, and a judge has now certified the case for adult court. The next milestone remains the grand jury stage, where prosecutors are expected to seek formal charging action in adult court.
Author note: Last updated April 7, 2026.