A road rage incident has left a Louisiana woman dead and a family in mourning.
Police say that on Sept. 19 shortly after 1 PM at the 520-mile marker on Interstate 20, a suspect named Jason Rashad Williams from Danville, Illinois was driving an 18-wheeler when he fired shots at a vehicle with four occupants inside. One of the four passengers, Caitlin Elizabeth, 31, was struck by a bullet and pronounced dead at the scene.
Affectionately known as “Caty” and “Teddy,” the victim was traveling home to Baton Rouge with her sister when the shooting took place, according to Van Zandt County Sheriff Joe Carter, who added that he believes road rage was the motive for the shooting.
“I’m relying on the Most High (God), the Most High, and my family, and my friends,” said Senta Holmes, the mother of the victim told WAFB. “She was a beautician, she was very talented, she was very loving, and I just, I’m devastated.”
Authorities say officers were dispatched to the scene of the incident after receiving a call that a passenger in the car had been shot by someone inside an 18-wheeler.
“Heard several officers were responding to a shooting on I-20,” said Pat Jordan, Van Zandt County Precinct 4 Constable.
Jordan says he was headed east on I-20 towards Tyler at the time the shooting took place. He then heard the call come through and was informed to be on the lookout for a dark red truck pulling a white trailer. He would eventually spot the vehicle less than 20 minutes after receiving the call.
“So, I had to catch up with it, I caught up with it about 542, the 543-mile marker, initiated my lights and it pulled over,” Jordan said.
When Jordan pulled the suspect over, he asked him if he was involved in an altercation while driving. The suspect responded yes and admitted that he had a .45 caliber handgun on his person.
“He said he was coming down the road, a vehicle pulled up beside him, they got into some type of verbal — verbal argument, and she threw something in his truck. I asked him, I said, ‘Did you have a gun pointed at them?’ [Williams] ‘Ya, ya.’ [Jordan] ‘Did you fire the gun?’ [Williams] ‘I don’t know,”’ Jordan explained.
Meanwhile, the victim’s mother described how she found out about the news.
“My other daughter was calling me to tell me my daughter was shot in the face by a guy driving an 18-wheeler,” Holmes said. “And they said he was trailing them and they would go into one lane, he would go into the next. and they ended up beside each other and my daughter said ‘was there a problem?’ because they couldn’t get in front of him, they couldn’t pass him. And he just, when she said that, my other daughter said that she was getting the baby. My daughter-in-law was driving, and they had no clue that he was going to shoot her.”
No other people in the car were reported to have any injuries, according to WAFB.
“She just asked him what was the problem, why were you doing, this is what they were thinking. And the next thing they knew they heard a bang, a small bang, they thought the tire was out,” said Holmes.
Williams is charged with one count of murder and three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
This story is developing and an investigation is ongoing.
