TEMPLE, Texas — A crash that led to the death of a 2-year-old in Temple came after an aggravated assault by the suspect at a nearby gas station, affidavits have revealed.
According to the affidavit, a Temple Police officer was sent to a vehicle accident in the area of West Adams and North Highway 317 in Temple on Sept. 30. On the way, the officer said he was sent to the Mickey's Quick Stop gas station, where he was told by the clerk that two people had fought at the station.
A statement provided by a witness said she met a man named Luis Cisneros at the gas station, where he was going to pay for her gas.
While at the pump, the witness said a black Dodge pulled into the lot "extremely fast." The witness told police a man later identified as Joshua Rios got out of the car and began punching Cisneros and later hitting him with a metal jack handle. Security footage reportedly showed Rios attack Cisneros.
The security video showed Rios chase Cisneros to his truck and drive away "very quickly", and Rios followed after him, according to the affidavit.
A second Temple Police officer stated that when he arrived to the scene of the crash, he learned Rios had used his truck to crash into Cisneros' truck, performing a pit maneuver which caused Cisneros' truck to swerve into oncoming traffic where it struck another vehicle with two teenagers inside.
A second affidavit agreed with the first's account of the assault and the crash. The second affidavit also said that when officers got to the crash scene, there were two "severely damaged" vehicles.
One of the officers reported in the affidavit that a small child was sitting in the rear passenger side of Cisneros' vehicle. The 2-year-old child was taken to the hospital, where he later died, police said. One of the teenagers was also injured in the crash, according to the affidavit.
Rios was arrested on Oct. 7 and booked in the Bell County Jail on four counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon with bonds totaling $2 million.
A GoFundMe has been created to raise money for the funeral expenses of the child who died as a result of the crash. The GoFundMe can be found at this link.
Previous affidavits reveal Rios has been arrested twice before on assault charges, once in November 2023 where he allegedly hit a man multiple times with his fist and brass knuckles, and another time in February 2024 when he allegedly struck his wife, according to affidavits.