Jose Rodriguez was a 22-year-old Hispanic man from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who was known for being a man of his word and showing respect to everyone. His girlfriend, Lexi Rivera, described him as having "so much heart, so much love." In the spring of 2019, he and Rivera were excitedly expecting a child together, and he had just celebrated his birthday.
On the afternoon of May 3, 2019, that future was stolen.
Rodriguez and Rivera were driving to get food when they stopped at an intersection near 27th Street and Forest Home Avenue. A black Porsche SUV suddenly cut them off, and the driver opened fire on their car, firing 21 shots. As bullets shattered the windshield, Rodriguez’s last words were "Babe," and he threw himself over Rivera to shield her. He was shot eight times and died at the scene. Rivera was injured by shattered glass, but she and their unborn child survived because of his final, selfless act.
The shooting was the culmination of a history of domestic violence. Rivera immediately identified the gunman as her ex-boyfriend and the father of her other child, 23-year-old Victor Cintron Jr. She said he smiled at them just before he started shooting. Weeks before the attack, Rivera had filed criminal charges against Cintron for battery and disorderly conduct with domestic abuse assessments. A warrant had been issued for his arrest, and a court had granted a restraining order that legally required him to surrender any firearms.
A multi-state manhunt for Cintron began immediately. On May 7, while police were conducting surveillance for him in Milwaukee, a separate, fatal officer-involved shooting occurred. The search for Cintron ended on May 20, 2019, when U.S. Marshals and local police located him in Madera, California. A SWAT team responded to the residence where he was hiding, and negotiators successfully talked him into surrendering. He was taken into custody without incident.
Cintron was extradited to Wisconsin and charged with one count of first-degree intentional homicide and one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide. He pleaded not guilty in June 2019. Following a trial, Victor Cintron was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide. In December 2021, he was sentenced to life in prison, bringing the case to its legal conclusion.
