Court records show a 44-year-old man now charged with murder in a deadly shooting earlier this month had previously admitted to attacking the same man with a machete more than a year ago for dating his ex-girlfriend.
Tommy Rios was booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center on a count of murder, which carries a punishment of five years to life in prison.
Investigating a deadly shooting near a Lubbock convenience store
His arrest stems from a Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit investigation that began after Lubbock patrol officers responded to a shots-fired call at a convenience store in the 5800 block of Avenue P and found 37-year-old Jonathan Trevino suffering from a gunshot wound. He was taken to University Medical Center where he died.
Investigators obtained video from the store’s security cameras, which showed a man armed with a handgun arguing with Trevino, who exited the store.
However, the armed man followed Trevino outside the store, continuing to argue with him as he pointed the weapon.
The video shows Trevino continued to walk away from the man, who got in front of him. A gunshot erupted and Trevino could be seen falling to the ground, the affidavit states.
The gunman ran away and was heard saying, “I’m gonna kill you.”
Rios was identified as the suspected shooter after investigators sent a still image of the gunman to other officers and to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Two facial recognition programs identified Rios as the person believed to be in the still image and a police officer who recently worked as a jailer also recognized Rios as the suspected shooter.
A motive for the shooting was not disclosed in the warrant. However, court records show this is the second time Rios has been charged with attacking Trevino.
A previous attack on Jonathan Trevino
Court records show Rios admitted to attacking Trevino on June 10, 2024 with a machete because Trevino and Rios were dating the same woman, according to a police report.
Trevino told detectives that he was walking in the 1600 block of 59th Street to the Hub City Inn to meet his girlfriend, who he said was the mother of Rios’ children.
He said he saw Rios in the area but didn’t interact with him.
However, Trevino said he turned around when he heard Rios running up behind him, yelling at him to stay away from his family or accusing him of “messing” with his family.
He said Rios swung what he believed was a machete at him and held up his left arm to block the weapon, which cut him.
Trevino told the officer that he threw a box cutter at Rios, who ran away. He said he never threatened Rios with the box cutter before the attack.
Meanwhile, Trevinio said he ran to a convenience store to get help.
Rios was arrested on Feb. 18, 2025 and initially faced a second-degree felony count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which carries a punishment of two to 20 years in prison.
However, court records show he pleaded guilty four months later to a lesser-included charge of deadly conduct in exchange for a six-month sentence as part of a deal with the Lubbock County District Attorney’s Office.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock records show machete attack preceded rival lover’s deadly shooting
Reporting by Gabriel Monte, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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