A 23-year-old truck driver has been charged with first-degree murder after police say he fired two shots through his driver’s side window and killed a 29-year-old U.S. Marine veteran during a road rage confrontation at a busy Tyler intersection on Feb. 13.
The shooting, reported just after 5 p.m. during the evening commute, unfolded with cars stopped at a red light at Grande Boulevard and Paluxy Drive, investigators said. Court records describe an argument that began after the driver said he stopped too close behind a white Tesla sedan. Police said the Tesla passenger stepped out, walked toward the truck and continued yelling, and the driver fired from inside his vehicle. Detectives wrote that the driver’s own account did not include threats or a visible weapon, a point prosecutors are expected to press as the case moves through Smith County’s criminal courts.
According to an arrest affidavit summarized in local reports, the vehicles were traveling east on Grande Boulevard when traffic slowed for a red light at Paluxy Drive. The driver, identified as Dayton Alexander Morgan of Ben Wheeler, told investigators the Tesla came to an abrupt stop, forcing him to brake hard and leaving his pickup closer to the Tesla than he wanted. The Tesla passenger, Trevor Julian of Whitehouse, got out and approached the pickup as traffic backed up behind them. Police said the two men argued in the roadway, with Julian demanding Morgan back up and Morgan telling Julian to move on. In the affidavit, Morgan said Julian walked to the front of the pickup and yelled through the windshield while pointing with his left hand. Morgan said Julian then moved toward the driver’s side of the truck.
Investigators said Morgan partially opened his driver’s door but remained seated. As Julian came near the driver’s side window, Morgan took a pistol from the center console and fired one shot through the glass, striking Julian in the throat. Authorities said a second shot followed moments later, hitting Julian in the upper left chest after he stumbled and moved again. Julian fell to the ground and stayed there until emergency medical services arrived, police said. He was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. Tyler police said they received multiple 911 calls reporting shots fired and arrived to find bystanders trying to help an adult man near the pickup. Officials have not said whether any video captured the shooting, but investigators have said they are reviewing witness statements and available footage as part of an active investigation.
Detectives wrote that Morgan did not describe any weapon in Julian’s possession and did not claim Julian made direct threats to harm him. In interviews summarized in court records, Morgan told police Julian made no verbal threats and did not appear to have a gun or other weapon, and he said he did not see anything in Julian’s hands. Tyler police have said they have no evidence Julian was armed. Investigators also pointed to physical evidence they said supported their reconstruction of the shooting, including blood evidence outside Morgan’s vehicle and damage around the driver’s side area. The affidavit cited bullet holes and window damage that investigators said indicated the shots were fired from inside the truck while Julian was outside. “Having interviewed Morgan, to include information obtained from multiple witnesses to the incident, I did not obtain any information that would warrant Morgan having discharged his firearm as a means of self-defense,” a detective wrote in the affidavit.
Police said Julian’s wife was driving the Tesla and the couple’s three children were in the back seat when Julian stepped out. Authorities have not identified the wife or children, and officials have not said whether they gave statements at the scene or later. Investigators said there was also a passenger in Morgan’s pickup, though that person has not been publicly identified. The setting matters in a case built on seconds: cars were stopped close together in an active traffic lane, with multiple drivers nearby and several calling 911. Officials have said there was no crash involved, and the reason the confrontation escalated remains under investigation. Prosecutors are expected to rely on Morgan’s statements, witness accounts and the scene evidence to argue the shooting was not justified.
Morgan was arrested and booked into the Smith County Jail, where he remained held on a $1 million bond, according to local reporting. The charge filed is first-degree murder, which in Texas can carry a lengthy prison sentence if a jury convicts. Investigators have not publicly detailed what evidence, if any, will be presented beyond the arrest affidavit at early hearings, and officials have not announced a timetable for an indictment or trial setting. Court proceedings typically include motions over what statements and any recordings can be used at trial, along with hearings that address bond conditions and the status of the investigation. Officials have said the case remains active as detectives continue to gather statements, review any video and complete forensic work tied to the shooting.
Julian, 29, was described by police and local reports as a Marine veteran and a 2015 graduate of Carthage High School. A Marine photo from 2017 released in local coverage showed him in uniform during his service. Officials have not released a full account of Julian’s military record, but local reporting identified him as an automotive maintenance technician during a posting with the 3rd Marine Logistics Group in Okinawa, Japan. In Tyler, the intersection where he was killed sits along a busy corridor with shopping areas and nearby neighborhoods, a place where drivers are often stopped in tight lines at rush hour. In the days after the shooting, the case drew attention locally because investigators said the fatal shots were fired while Julian’s family was only a few feet away inside their car.
As of Feb. 22, Morgan remained jailed on the murder charge, and investigators had not publicly released details from an autopsy beyond the gunshot wound locations described in court records and local reports. Tyler police have said the next significant developments are expected through the court process as prosecutors present evidence and the defense responds in hearings and filings.
Author note: Last updated February 22, 2026.