Matthew Escalante Argumedo was a beloved son, brother, and uncle who was known for his energy and potential. Family members remembered the 20-year-old Hispanic/Latino man as someone who was always making a joke to bring laughter to people’s faces and who had a smile and hug that could melt his mother's heart. He grew up knowing he was loved and that his family would always have his back.
On the afternoon of November 7, 2024, Matthew arrived in the 2600 block of Rosewood Avenue in East
Austin, Texas, to meet a man his girlfriend knew as "Rudi." The meeting place had been changed several times. Around 4:30 p.m., Matthew got out of his car while on the phone with the man. Shortly after, his girlfriend heard several gunshots. She got out of the car and found Matthew on the ground with a gunshot wound. He was rushed to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries the next day, November 8, 2024.
Austin Police Department officers responded to the scene and began an investigation. Witnesses reported seeing three men fleeing on foot after the shooting. Detectives recovered surveillance footage that corroborated these accounts and showed one of the men pulling a handgun from his jacket. The investigation, which spanned more than a year, involved analyzing ballistics, social media records, and cellphone location data to identify the suspects.
The first breakthrough came just two weeks after the shooting. On November 20, 2024, a U.S. Marshals-led task force located and arrested 21-year-old Rudy Tito Zamora in Austin. He was charged with murder in connection with Matthew’s death.
The case saw significant developments in the spring of 2026. On April 29, 2026, Rudy Zamora, then 23, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and was sentenced to 22 years in prison. On that same day, authorities arrested a second suspect, 21-year-old Elijah Rivera, and charged him with first-degree murder. Investigators had linked Rivera to the crime through his social media accounts and location data that placed him at the scene.
A third suspect, 24-year-old Benigno Rodriguez, was arrested on May 8, 2026, and also charged with first-degree murder. As of May 2026, Rudy Zamora was serving his prison sentence, while both Elijah Rivera and Benigno Rodriguez were in the Travis County Jail awaiting court proceedings on their charges.
