SAN ANTONIO — A murder investigation has taken a surprising turn. On Thursday, the Selma Police Department made a second arrest in the shooting death of a University of Incarnate Word (UIW) Army Cadet.
Just a few weeks ago, Jacob Serna, 29, was charged with murder. However, that charge has now been downgraded to Racing – Causing Serious Bodily Injury or Death.
Investigators now believe Matthew Kirk Alexander, 33, shot and killed Joseph Banales, 22.
On April 15, 2023, Banales was on his way home from a military ball. He was driving North on Interstate 35 in Selma when someone shot him in the head. Banales was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time.
She reportedly heard another car's engine revving and then a loud noise before the call dropped. Loved ones told KENS 5 Banales was just a few miles from home when he was killed.
According to police, Serna and his wife initially claimed to be witnesses of the murder. The couple told responding officers they had seen Banales crash his car and felt compelled to return to check on him, which is when they allegedly realized he had been shot.
Officers observed that Serna's wife was very upset when talking to police. Investigators say through separate interviews over the last year, their story changed several times.
When Serna's wife was questioned over the summer, she allegedly told police Serna became irate with Banales for nearly hitting them on the highway. The arrest report says he got a gun out of the glove box and pointed it at Banales' vehicle and it "just went off." The couple is now separated.
Arrest documents state Serna admitted to pawning the handgun after the shooting. Police say they located the 9mm pistol at a pawn shop, which had “similar characteristics of the round recovered from the victim,” but official results hadn’t been released from the Bexar County Lab.
On Sept. 20, Serna was charged with murder.
While Serna was in jail, Selma Police say they contacted Matthew Alexander. Investigators say they learned Alexander and Serna knew each other and had been communicating the night of the shooting. Police reportedly discovered the two had been racing on I-35 on April 15, 2023, and Alexander allegedly confessed to them he was the one who shot Banales.
Alexander turned over a gun, investigators say, and the Bexar County Lab confirmed it was the murder weapon.
On Oct. 10, Alexander was arrested and charged with murder.
The Selma Police Department says their detectives, in partnership with the Texas Rangers, Department of Public Safety and U.S. Secret Service, analyzed "mountains of digital data and conducted hundreds of interviews."