Edward Alejandro Rivera, 18, a Black male from Nacogdoches, was shot on the morning of October 24, 2025, during a burst of gunfire along the 1000 block of Hackberry Street. Police dispatchers first received calls at 10:22 a.m. reporting a person running from a vehicle stopped in the roadway and another person down in the street. Responding officers found one victim lying in the roadway with gunshot wounds and two more victims inside a black car; one died at the scene, and the other two were
rushed to a hospital where they died shortly after. Authorities identified two of the victims that day as Rivera, 18, and Dequavious LeCharles Brooks, 17, both of Nacogdoches; the third victim was later reported as Emilio Perez. Investigators emphasized the shooting appeared targeted and isolated, with no broader threat to the neighborhood.
By October 26, detectives named 17-year-old Hector Cuarenta of Nacogdoches as the suspect and obtained a warrant tied to the Hackberry Street triple homicide. That evening, police said Cuarenta surrendered himself and was booked into the Nacogdoches County Jail. Local outlets subsequently reported that he was arrested in connection with the shooting deaths of Rivera, Brooks, and Perez. Police accounts noted a fourth person was seen fleeing the scene, and investigators continued seeking witness statements and any nearby home-security footage as they worked to determine motive.
Rivera’s death was recorded among the victims of gun violence for October 24 in Nacogdoches, confirming his age and the date of the killing. The case—shocking in its mid-morning timing on a residential street—left families and classmates mourning three young lives, while authorities moved quickly from emergency response to suspect identification, warrant issuance, and an arrest within roughly 48 hours.
