HOWARD COUNTY MAN CONVICTED BY JURY OF MURDER AND ATTEMPTED MURDER FOLLOWING 2025 INTERSTATE 70 DRIVE-BY SHOOTING
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OCTOBER 9, 2026
HOWARD COUNTY MAN CONVICTED BY JURY OF MURDER AND ATTEMPTED MURDER FOLLOWING 2025 INTERSTATE 70 DRIVE-BY SHOOTING
Frederick, MD – On Wednesday, October 7th, 2026, a jury in the Circuit Court for Frederick County found 26-year-old Jeffrey Josue Diaz of Howard County guilty of Second-Degree Murder, 5 counts of Attempted Second Degree Murder, 6 counts of Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Crime of Violence, 2 counts of First Degree Assault, Possession of Handgun by Prohibited Person, and Unlawful Carrying of a Loaded Handgun.
The convictions are the result of an incident that occurred late Saturday, June 14, 2025. At approximately 11:38 p.m., a 9-1-1 caller reported that their vehicle had been fired upon by a passing vehicle while traveling eastbound on Interstate 70, just prior to the Mt. Airy exit in Frederick County. The victims’ vehicle, a 2018 Red GMC Sierra carrying six individuals, sustained damage from at least 10 shots fired into it by the passing vehicle. Three of the passengers had sustained gunshot wounds.
The driver of the targeted vehicle pulled over at a Shell gas station located at 649 Lakeview Drive in Mount Airy, Maryland, where police and emergency personnel responded. 20-year-old Eduardo Alexander Alvarado Urrea, the front middle seat passenger, suffered gunshot wounds to the chest and upper back and was pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver of the targeted vehicle was shot in the upper shoulder but survived the shooting and was transported to Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, for medical treatment. A third passenger sustained an injury to the right side of his face from broken glass.
The Maryland State Police Criminal Enforcement Division – Homicide Unit conducted the investigation. Investigators learned that earlier that evening, the six occupants of the GMC Sierra had attended an event at the Frederick County Fairgrounds in the City of Frederick.
Through witness interviews and surveillance footage, law enforcement determined that a physical altercation occurred at the fairgrounds between one of the vehicle’s occupants and the defendant Jeffrey 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 observed Diaz leave the fairgrounds in a dark colored pickup truck shortly after the GMC Sierra.
Upon 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 associated with a friend of Diaz.
Cell phone mapping of the Defendant’s and victim’s devices, and location information from the Red GMC’s infotainment system, showed the Dodge Ram caught up to the GMC Sierra on Interstate 70 eastbound and was in close proximity to it at the time the shooting occurred.
Additional investigation revealed that Diaz was seated in the rear driver’s side seat of the Dodge Ram travelling on Interstate 70 eastbound when he observed the GMC Sierra, lowered his window and fired multiple rounds into the GMC Sierra as they drove past it.
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.
The investigation was handled by the Maryland State Police Criminal Enforcement Division – Homicide Unit with assistance from the Mt. Airy Police Department, Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, Frederick City Police Department, and the FBI CAST unit. The State of Maryland was represented in this case by Chief Counsel Ricky Lewis and Assistant State’s Attorney Samantha Slattery.
Press Contact:
Jacqueline Rottmann
Media Relations Officer
301-600-2972
100 West Patrick Street
Frederick, Maryland 21701
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