A Tucson man convicted in a March road‑rage shooting that wounded two teenage girls was sentenced to prison this week. David Cedeno received a 7½‑year term on two felony counts, with those terms to run concurrently. In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered three years of probation to run consecutively on a separate count, and required Cedeno to pay fines, fees and restitution that include the medical expenses incurred by the victims.
The sentence stems from an incident investigators described as a road‑rage confrontation near the intersection of Golf Links Road and Kolb Road on the city’s east side. Police say the confrontation began on a roadway maneuver: the vehicle carrying the two teens attempted to merge into a lane occupied by Cedeno’s sport‑utility vehicle. According to investigators, Cedeno repeatedly accelerated to prevent that lane change before both vehicles turned onto Golf Links Road.
Tucson Police SUV and yellow crime-scene tape outside a storefront near the east-side intersection where the March road‑rage shooting occurred.
Investigators say Cedeno then pulled alongside the victims’ car and fired a handgun into it. The projectile struck one teenage girl in the leg and then entered the leg of a second teenage girl. Both were taken to a hospital with injuries described by police as non‑life‑threatening.
Key details from the victims helped lead detectives to a suspect. The teenagers were able to describe specific identifying marks on the other vehicle, including a personalized license plate that read “HATHER” and a distinctive Hello Kitty sticker on the rear window. Those descriptions directed detectives to a nearby residence, and Cedeno was taken into custody shortly after the shooting.
Booking photo released by Tucson police of the man convicted and sentenced in the March road‑rage shooting that wounded two teenage girls.
Court records and statements to investigators show differing accounts of what preceded the shooting. Cedeno told police he believed someone in the other vehicle had a gun and said he thought he heard a shot before he fired. The victims denied anyone in their car had a weapon. A woman who had been riding with Cedeno told investigators she did not see or hear anything that would indicate the occupants of the victims’ vehicle were armed. Officers recovered a 9mm Taurus handgun during the investigation.
Following his arrest, Cedeno was charged on multiple felony counts tied to the incident, including aggravated assault, a drive‑by shooting charge and weapons‑related offenses. He was later convicted on the counts that formed the basis for the prison and probation terms imposed at sentencing. The court ordered the prison terms for counts 2 and 4 to run at the same time, and imposed a consecutive three‑year probation term on count 11 to begin after the prison sentence is served. The fines, fees and restitution ordered by the court include payment of the victims’ medical bills.
The investigation and subsequent legal proceedings unfolded from the March collision and shooting on the east side of Tucson through the arrest at a nearby residence and the later conviction and sentencing. Police and prosecutors cited the vehicle descriptions provided by the victims as crucial to locating and identifying the suspect. The two teenage victims were treated at a local hospital and released after receiving care for their wounds.
Court documents show the matter involved several elements investigators and prosecutors pursued as they built the case: eyewitness information from the victims, physical evidence recovered during the probe and the statements given to police by Cedeno and a passenger in his vehicle. The sentencing concludes the criminal penalties handed down in this prosecution, including incarceration, probation and financial obligations intended to address the victims’ medical costs and other court‑imposed fines and fees.
Officials have not released additional information about the timeline for restitution payments or other post‑sentence procedures. The events that led to the charges began with a traffic confrontation that escalated into a shooting that left two teenagers wounded and set in motion a police investigation that culminated in arrest, conviction and the sentence imposed this week.
The incident occurred on March 13 at about 9:30 a.m., and Tucson police identified the suspect as 29-year-old David Anthony Cedeno.
An interim complaint says detectives traced the personalized plate to a 2008 Toyota Sequoia at a nearby residence; a passenger was seen leaving the home and told officers Cedeno was inside and that she had removed the plate and the Hello Kitty sticker before officers contained the residence and took Cedeno into custody.
Initial charges filed after the March shooting listed five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated assault causing serious physical injury, one count of drive‑by shooting, one count of discharging a firearm within city limits and one count of discharging a firearm at an occupied structure.
Tucson Unified School District said it had been notified of an off‑campus incident and referred questions to the Tucson Police Department.