On a late Sunday evening in June of 2021, the life of 32-year-old Justin Michael Smead of Rome City, Indiana, was tragically cut short. Just before midnight on June 27th, police in Kendallville and Noble County received reports of a shooting at Gallop's Truck Stop. Arriving at the scene, they discovered multiple victims, including Smead, who had sustained fatal gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the location.
The investigation into the shooting pointed to a random act of violence.
The suspect, identified as 24-year-old Matthew Rodriguez, had no known connection to any of the victims. The break in the case came when Rodriguez's own sister contacted the police, reporting that he had come to her home in an agitated state, claiming to have shot three people. This information allowed law enforcement to track Rodriguez down.
Following a brief standoff with police at a rest stop in eastern Ohio on June 30, Rodriguez was taken into custody. He was subsequently extradited back to Indiana to face charges for his actions. The Kendallville community was left in shock by the incident, as it was the first homicide in the area since 2007. Smead's family remembered him as a man with a big personality and a constant smile who loved his family and had a passion for cars. He was an employee at Creative Liquid Coatings in Kendallville.
In the ensuing legal proceedings, Rodriguez was charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder. Just before his trial was set to commence, he agreed to a plea deal in Noble Superior Court. The agreement capped his potential sentence at 85 years, with a sentencing hearing scheduled for August 23, 2022.
