UPDATE AUG 12, 2026
EARLIER: JUL 15, 2026

Chilling details have emerged in the capital murder case with suspects Yudith Cicard Reyes and Luis Felipe Reyes-Isabel of Saline County, Arkansas. Court records reveal that the victim, Jose Miguel Quiroz-Mata, recorded his own fatal shooting on his cell phone. Read more below.

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Quiroz-Mata, age 44, was found dead inside his vehicle in Little Rock on July 14, 2026, just days after he had repeatedly contacted law enforcement to report a suspected arson, escalating threats, and the physical sabotage of his vehicle.

According to an arrest affidavit from the Little Rock Police Department, officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert and subsequent shooting call at approximately 6:09 a.m. on July 14, 2026, in the 4200 block of W. 10th St.

Upon arrival, first responders located Quiroz-Mata deceased in the driver’s seat of his white Chevrolet, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Processing of the crime scene yielded three .380-caliber cartridge casings, shattered glass, and a projectile strike on the driver’s side door frame.

The breakthrough in the investigation came when detectives discovered Quiroz-Mata’s cell phone on the driver-side floorboard of his vehicle. After obtaining the passcode from family members, detectives discovered a video recording captured by the victim immediately prior to his death.

The footage captured a black truck blocking the roadway, followed by a male identified as 22-year-old Luis Felipe Reyes-Isabel approaching the victim’s vehicle with a handgun and firing five rounds inside.

Witnesses in the neighborhood reported hearing five gunshots, seeing a black truck follow a white truck, and hearing screams. One witness told detectives they specifically observed Quiroz-Mata’s ex-wife, 49-year-old Yudith Reyes, sitting in the front passenger seat of the suspect vehicle during the shooting.

Additionally, a resident’s security camera captured footage of Quiroz-Mata’s white Chevy striking a mailbox at 6:08 a.m., with the black truck trailing slowly behind it.

Using Flock license plate readers, investigators tracked the movements of a black 2026 Dodge Ram registered to Yudith Reyes. The vehicle was recorded northbound on Chicot Road at 3:30 a.m. and southbound on Cedar Street at 3:51 a.m. City surveillance cameras also captured both Yudith Reyes and Reyes-Isabel riding in the truck together on Geyer Springs Road at 6:18 a.m., minutes after the shooting.

Later that morning, detectives spotted Yudith Reyes’s second vehicle, a Chevrolet Trailblazer, at an office strip at the 10600 of Colonel Glenn Road, and took her into custody without incident.

Investigators subsequently executed a search-and-seizure warrant at her home located in the Royal Oaks neighborhood in Mabelvale. Inside the residence, police recovered a Ruger .380-caliber gun box, a paycheck stub for Reyes-Isabel, and his state fisheries conservation license.

After being read her Miranda rights, Yudith Reyes provided a recorded statement admitting that Reyes-Isabel drove the truck to the crime scene, shot Quiroz-Mata, and fled.

Although she initially claimed Reyes-Isabel was her cousin, family members refuted that assertion to police. Both suspects are currently being held without bond at the Pulaski County Regional Jail on charges of capital murder. Mr. Reyes-Isabel has a case pending with Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The arrest affidavit also reveals that Mr. Quiroz-Mata had spent weeks pleading with authorities for assistance as the situation escalated. On June 15, 2026, he reported to police that his ex-wife may have been responsible for a house fire.

On July 9, he filed a formal harassment complaint at the prosecuting attorney’s office. Finally, on July 12 — just 48 hours before he was killed — Quiroz-Mata filed a police report stating that Reyes’s boyfriend had physically sabotaged his vehicle.

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