Dominique Croom receives life sentence for 2023 killing of San Antonio Uber driver Robert Carbonell Diaz
Life sentence imposed in Northeast Side rideshare killing
Dominique Dashon Croom has been sentenced to life in prison for the March 2023 killing of San Antonio Uber driver Robert Carbonell Diaz, concluding a case that centered on forensic evidence, video, and cellphone data presented during a Bexar County jury trial earlier this year.
The sentence was imposed on March 20, 2026, after jurors found Croom guilty on Feb. 6, 2026. The trial and sentencing were handled in the 175th Criminal District Court, with Judge Catherine Torres-Stahl presiding. A pre-sentence investigation was completed ahead of the punishment decision.
What prosecutors said happened on March 9, 2023
The homicide occurred at about 8 p.m. on March 9, 2023, near the intersection of Gibbs Sprawl Road and Castle Cross Drive on the city’s Northeast Side. Diaz, 37, was found inside his vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Investigators determined Diaz was working as an Uber driver at the time he was shot and that Croom was the passenger on the trip. Witness accounts described gunfire followed by a person fleeing the area. Police later arrested Croom on March 16, 2023. He was booked into the Bexar County Jail on a $200,000 bond.
Evidence and trial posture
During the four-day trial that began Feb. 3, prosecutors told jurors they would rely on a combination of DNA, fingerprint and video evidence, and said a cellphone connected to Croom was found in the back of Diaz’s vehicle. The state also referenced app-related information indicating the ride was in progress around the time of the shooting.
The defense urged jurors to withhold judgment and challenged the inferences drawn from the evidence, arguing the case required careful evaluation of what the forensic and digital records proved about the shooter’s identity and actions.
Key dates in the case
March 9, 2023: Diaz is shot while driving on the Northeast Side and later dies at a hospital.
March 16, 2023: Croom is arrested and booked on a murder charge; bond set at $200,000.
Feb. 3, 2026: Trial begins in Bexar County.
Feb. 6, 2026: Jury returns a guilty verdict.
March 20, 2026: Judge imposes a life sentence following completion of a pre-sentence investigation.
The case drew attention to the risks faced by rideshare drivers working at night and the role that digital traces—from surveillance video to app activity—can play in reconstructing a passenger-driver encounter after a violent crime.
Croom’s conviction and life sentence end the trial-level proceedings, while any appeal would proceed on a separate timetable through the courts.