Man Plowed Propane-Filled Truck Into RV To Kill Pregnant Ex, Her New Boyfriend

A Lindale man has been slapped with two life sentences after he pleaded guilty to killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend by ramming his propane-filled pickup truck into their RV trailer.

On Dec. 9, 2020, at around 1 a.m, David Joshua Reed, 41, reportedly plowed his Dodge pickup truck into a camper trailer in the 19000 block of CR 431, Jim Hogg Road where his former girlfriend Shelby Duarte, 23, and her boyfriend Timothy Nelson, 43, lived.

Reed pleaded guilty to their murders in the 241st District Court on Friday, Oct. 1. Following this, Judge Jack Skeen Jr. handed down double life sentences to Reed and ordered him to serve them concurrently, according to Law & Crime.

In the days leading up to the murder, Duarte reportedly told Reed that she was pregnant with his baby. However, Reed became upset after she continued to be with Nelson even though she allegedly kept telling the suspect that she was going to come back to him.

On the night before the incident, Reed reportedly received messages from Duarte that "made him mad." He then decided to drive to Nelson’s residence and kill her, with plans to take his own life after. Reed reportedly loaded up the front seat of his pickup truck with propane bottles, believing that the crash would blow him up, according to Longview News Journal.

After seeing Nelson’s vehicle parked outside the RV, Reed reportedly left Duarte a voicemail stating, “You reap what you sow. I will see you in hell.”

Reed proceeded to speed towards the RV with the valves on all four propane tanks open even though he knew that he would be killing his unborn child. After Reed rammed his pickup truck into the RV, the victims were reportedly thrown “more than 65 feet” from the trailer and slammed into the front of a nearby house. Nelson died on impact. Meanwhile, Duarte was airlifted via helicopter to a local hospital but soon died from multiple severe injuries.

Following the incident, the investigators quickly located and arrested Reed who was suffering from fresh bruising around his abdomen. When the officers found him, Reed reportedly had a set of keys for a Dodge vehicle in his pocket.

Following his arrest, Reed has been in the custody of the Smith County Jail on a $1 million bond.