Eagle Lake Crime Spree Suspect Captured Here

Last Monday, Oct. 5, local law enforcement captured a suspect who was still at large following a crime spree in Eagle Lake and Columbus last month.

Fayette County Sheriff’s deputies and local DPS troopers helped U.S. Marshalls track down Dante Larenz Stevens, 25 of Garwood, to a residence in Schulenburg. Deputies went to the home on Monday. Lt. David Beyer of the Sheriff’s Office said the suspect tried escaping through the back of the house. Two sheriff’s deputies and K-9 officer Kolt were waiting for him outside and took Stevens into custody.

Stevens was charged with Deadly Conduct, Resisting Arrest and Felon in Possession of Firearm. Stevens was wanted in connection with a series of shootings last month in Columbus and Eagle Lake that left two men dead.

According to a press release from the Eagle Lake Police Department, the crime spree began early last month. In the evening of Sept. 9, a drive-by shooting took place at the Eagle Lake Funeral Home.

A few hours later, around 2 a.m. on Sept. 10, 21-year-old Keaton Hancock died in a driveby shooting that took place in the 1100 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Columbus. About an hour later, another drive-by shooting took place in the 500 block of Stephens Street in Eagle Lake. That shooting left another man dead, 22-year-old Jonathon Segura.

Numerous warrants were issued. Cairo Ruvalcaba Jr., Ethan Dulany and Jose “Joey” Casanova, all of Eagle Lake, were charged with Hancock’s murder. The three of them were arrested in Sinton on Sept. 24.

Daegen Mason Mendoza, 24 of Eagle Lake; Dontrae Johnson, 22 of Garwood; and Stevens were charged with deadly conduct stemming from the Eagle Lake shootings.

Warrants were also issued against three others charged with rioting and interefereance with public duties. All three have been arrested.

August and September were particularly violent months in Colorado County with a total of four men killed by gunshots.