Attempted vehicle theft leads to Twin Falls murder

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — New details are being released into the murder of Twin Falls resident, Freddy Rodriguez, due to the case being unsealed.

According to court records, on Thursday, November 16, just before 2 a.m., 18-year-olds Mi’Quavis Taylor and Kaden Thomson went to Rodriguez’s home on Capri Drive with the intent of stealing his minivan.

Rodriguez’s wife told Twin Falls Police that someone had broke into their vehicle earlier in the week and stole the keys. She believed the thief would return.

That morning she observed a white pickup truck across the street. She saw a person with a face covering and gloves approach her property.

She told her husband, who then exited the home with a bat and entered the front passenger side of his van.

Freddy confronted the suspect in the driver’s side, who would later be identified as Thomson.

Prior to their arrival, Taylor and Thomson discussed who would take the minivan and who would drive the Ford F-150 pickup, which happened to be stolen.

Taylor wanted to continue driving the truck and according to court records, told Thomson, “good luck”.

Thomson reportedly got into the minivan and as he was starting the vehicle, Rodriguez entered the van, armed with a bat.

Thomson told Taylor he shot Rodriguez and they needed to leave. They fled in the pickup.

Rodriguez was shot five times, as revealed in an autopsy conducted by the Ada County Coroner’s Office.

In police interviews, both Taylor and Thomson said they left the area because they assumed Rodriguez had died.

As they fled to Boise, they stated to police that Thomson emptied ammunition and threw it out the window, plus tossed some of his clothing.

In further exploration of these court records, we discovered the multi-day crime spree.

November 9

At approximately 2 a.m. that day, a Sig Sauer nine millimeter and a ballistic vest were taken out of a car at an apartment complex on Falls Avenue West.

Video surveillance showed two men exchanging a firearm, which Taylor and Thomson admitted was them. Taylor then allegedly stole a Honda Civic out of the parking lot.

Late November 9 – Early November 10

Thomson admitted to police he stole a Nissan Murano, while Taylor allegedly stole a Chrysler 200 from two separate residences on Pheasant Road West.

Late November 14 – Early November 15

The pair took a Chevrolet Silverado from Valencia Street.

The truck belonged to Run Energy, which contained a GPS log.

Between the log and video surveillance from the Reverie Company on Filer Avenue East, the truck was tracked to Capri Drive.

November 15

At approximately 3 a.m., Taylor and Thomson crashed two stolen vehicles into each other on Washington Street South and fled the scene. One of the vehicles was the stolen Silverado and the other, a stolen Mazda 3. Taylor and Thomson admitted to police they stole the vehicles.

Around that time, that’s when they allegedly stole an Ford 150 from a residence on Cordova Avenue, which is what they used when they went to Rodriguez’s home and it’s also the truck that crashed in Boise, leading their arrest.

About 15 minutes later, they allegedly broke into a car on Sierra Road.

Around 3:45 a.m., an officer went to a home on Washington Street South to contact the owner of the Mazda 3 that was involved in the crash.

Thomson and Taylor were there and said they were visiting a friend.

The officer didn’t know the car was stolen, due to the owner not reporting the crime until later in the morning.

In the late afternoon, the Ford F150 pickup was spotted in Meridian.

At 7:50 p.m., police responded to the shooting at Target[1] in Twin Falls, for which Taylor was the prime suspect and a warrant was issued for his arrest.

November 16

According to court records the pair went to Capri Drive for the aforementioned murder.

November 17

And as we mentioned Tuesday night, the pair were arrested in Boise[2] after crashing the stolen F-150.

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References

1. ^ shooting at Target (www.kmvt.com)
2. ^ arrested in Boise (www.kmvt.com)