Evette Marie Quezada was 18 and from Ferris, Texas when she was shot dead in the early hours of July 12, 2015. Deputies responded about 2:26 a.m. to a disturbance in the 100 block of Newton Road and found Quezada with a single gunshot wound to the head. Two men were also at the scene and taken to area hospitals; one was Quezada’s older brother, who sustained a gunshot wound to the hand and was expected to recover.

The other man, Frank Frankie Ortiz, 30, of Lancaster and described as Quezada’s cousin though not blood-related, was injured and later arrested on a murder charge and booked with bond set at $1 million. Investigators say the three had been in a car together, Quezada’s brother was driving, and words were exchanged that escalated into gunfire. The motive remains unknown.

Quezada had just graduated from Ferris High School and ran on the cross-country team; friends and family remembered her as hardworking and active in church and community. Was anyone in the Ferris area that night who can help clarify what led to the shooting?