In what began as a traffic dispute on a busy Friday evening, a White, 29-year-old U.S. Marine veteran tragically lost his life in a road rage shooting in Tyler, Texas. Trevor Julian, a resident of Whitehouse, was a passenger in a Tesla being driven by his wife, with their three children in the back seat, on February 13, 2026. The family was stopped at a red light at the intersection of East Grande Boulevard and Paluxy Drive at approximately 5:10 p.m.
when the incident unfolded.
The altercation started after the Tesla reportedly made an abrupt stop, causing the driver of the pickup truck behind them, 23-year-old Dayton Alexander Morgan of Ben Wheeler, to brake suddenly. This led to a heated verbal exchange between Julian and Morgan. Julian exited the Tesla and approached Morgan's truck. As the argument escalated, Morgan, still seated in his vehicle, retrieved a pistol from his center console.
From inside his truck, Morgan fired two shots through his driver's side window. The first shot struck Julian in the neck, and the second hit him in the upper left chest. Witnesses at the scene rushed to Julian's aid, with one person performing CPR until emergency medical services arrived. Julian was transported to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
Morgan remained at the scene and was taken into custody by Tyler police. During questioning, he admitted to shooting Julian but claimed that Julian had been yelling at him. However, Morgan also told investigators that Julian did not make any verbal threats of harm and did not appear to be armed. Based on the investigation, police determined that there was no evidence to support a claim of self-defense. Morgan was subsequently arrested and charged with murder. He was booked into the Smith County Jail with his bond set at $1 million. The case remains under investigation.
