Calan Gilbert, 26, a White male, was found unresponsive on the morning of September 20, 2025, along the 2700 block of Donald Street in South Dallas. Officers responded around 9:15 a.m. and Dallas Fire-Rescue pronounced him dead at the scene. He was publicly identified later that weekend, and obituary notices confirmed he was born in Dallas in 1999 and had ties to the Rowlett community.
What began as a response to a reported shooting quickly focused on a vehicular assault.
According to investigative details described in news reports drawn from an arrest affidavit, detectives recovered an orange car bumper near Gilbert and used FLOCK camera data to trace an orange Nissan 370 seen in the area. A timeline in those records indicates Gilbert, who was in the street around 6 a.m., was struck by the vehicle; a witness later discovered his body at 9:13 a.m. Police subsequently learned the suspected Nissan had been taken for repairs with front-end and windshield damage. During questioning, 22-year-old Marko Chavez admitted he drove his car into Gilbert after becoming angry over a relationship dispute, then left the scene.
Chavez was arrested on September 21 and has been charged with murder. Dallas police listed the case under number 135702-2025 and asked anyone with information to contact the lead detective. Authorities have not announced any additional suspects, and the investigation remains active. Memorial pages and local remembrances emerged in the days that followed, while police and prosecutors moved the case forward through the Dallas County system.
