Police are continuing to investigate after a 30-year-old man was shot to death early Monday in a Lubbock home just months after he was released on parole following a 10-year prison sentence stemming from a 2015 drunken-driving crash that left an LPD officer seriously injured.
The Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit is investigating the shooting that was reported about 2:01 a.m. Monday at a home in the 2500 block of Baylor Street, where police say Jesse Tello was shot after he unlawfully entered a home.
Responding officers arrived to find Tello suffering from a gunshot wound, according to a police news release.
He was taken by ambulance to University Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
“Through the initial course of the investigation, it appears, a person inside the residence located Tello inside the home before shooting him. Tello had unlawfully entered the home,” reads the statement from police.
Other information about the person who shot Tello and the circumstances leading to the shooting were not immediately available as the investigation is ongoing.
The shooting comes nearly three months after Tello was released on parole May 2, 2025 from a state prison, where he was serving a 10-year sentence stemming from a May 30, 2015 crash that left a Lubbock police officer seriously injured.
Tello was 19 at the time of the crash in 2015, according to Avalanche-Journal archives. He admitted to drinking enough alcohol to produce a .181 blood-alcohol level – more than twice the state’s blood alcohol threshold – then drive during a heavy rain at 75 mph on a section of Fourth Street with a speed limit of 50 mph.
Meanwhile, a Lubbock police officer was retrieving traffic cones that night from the trunk of his police cruiser, which was parked in the middle of the street to divert westbound traffic from the flooded road. Tello’s Buick Century plowed into the cruiser, causing it to spin and hit the officer, whose right foot was mangled beyond saving.
During his sentencing in 2017, a Lubbock Judge told Tello he struggled giving him a 10-year prison sentence, citing his relatively clean record and testimony from employers and family member who praised his character and work ethic.
While the circumstances of the July 28 shooting remain unclear as the police investigation continues, Tello’s family was left mourning his loss. In a GoFundMe web page seeking donations to help cover Tello’s funeral services and other expenses, a family member reflected on Tello’s life.
“Jesse was a true people person—always ready to help anyone in need, no questions asked,” reads part of the statement on the fundraiser page. “He was a guardian angel for many, and his kindness touched everyone who knew him. Jesse was working hard to get his life together so he could be there for his two sons, who now face a future without their father.”
A family representative did not immediately respond to an Avalanche-Journal request for comment.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Investigation continues after man, paroled after 2015 crash, killed in Lubbock shooting
Reporting by Adam D. Young and Gabriel Monte, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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