Federal charges added in Wake County I-40 road rage killing

Federal prosecutors added a gun charge against Josue Alejandro Quintanilla-Reyes, 34, saying the Honduran national possessed a firearm while illegally and unlawfully present in the United States. The complaint filed June 17 carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison if he is convicted, and Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested him in Raleigh on a federal warrant.

The charge grows out of the March 7, 2025, shooting on Interstate 40 East near North Harrison Avenue in Cary, where Wake County deputies said a road rage confrontation turned deadly around 6:20 a.m. Ricardo Baez Cardenas, 35, a Durham father of two who was on his way to work, was shot and killed on the interstate. A witness shared dashcam video showing shots fired from one vehicle into another, and the shooting snarled the Friday morning commute with major traffic backups on I-40.

Quintanilla-Reyes was indicted on a murder charge in April 2025 and has remained in custody without bond at the Wake County Detention Center. A motion filed June 1 says he intends to pursue self-defense, and the state murder trial was scheduled to begin June 29 in Wake County Superior Court.

The complaint says Quintanilla-Reyes had been caught crossing the border twice before, was released because there was not enough detention space, and later failed to report for immigration checks before obtaining firearms illegally. He also had an ICE administrative warrant during the state court proceedings.

Baez Cardenas left behind a 12-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter.