Family of 29-year-old killed during road rage shooting pleads for help

By Brooke Taylor

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    HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The family of a 29-year-old man shot and killed in a road rage incident in La Porte is desperately pleading with the public to help find the shooter and get their loved one justice.

Eli Laughlin, a process operator, was driving home from work on the southbound lanes of Highway 146 between Baytown and Barbour’s Cut Boulevard between 4 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday.

He was in a White Ford F-150 when there was some type of road rage confrontation, and the suspect in a Chevy Colorado with dark-tinted windows, captured on surveillance, shot and killed him, according to the La Porte Police Department.

Laughlin leaves behind a wife, and her parents spoke with ABC13.

“This is what every father-in-law would have wanted for their daughter,” Shelby Moseley said. “This guy was textbook perfect.”

“Justice for Eli. That’s what we need for Eli. He was an angel from earth,” Sherry Moseley, the victim’s mother-in-law, said. “He always had a smile on his face.”

Shelby and Sherry Moseley said their daughter was only married to Laughlin for a year and a half but dated for years and had big plans.

“Eli was on his way home to connect with his aunt,” Shelby Moseley said. “They wanted to go look at this house and surprise Elisha with it.”

The Moseleys have seen road rage after road rage reported on the news but never imagined it would be their family member, like so many victims of senseless violence.

“Everyone thinks it won’t happen to them. It’s probably not good thinking,” Shelby Moseley said. “Houston drivers need to take their time, drive with patience, plan their routes and leave earlier than normal. We are all in the traffic together.”

Laughlin’s brother, Clay Heiskell, will remember him as the loving, smiling man who was the backbone of their family.

“Eli was that guy,” Heiskell said. “Always had a smile, all family events, if it was going to be a great event, it all depended if he was going to be there.”

The family hopes the surveillance footage will help pin down the shooter, and witnesses will come forward.

“It’s time to come forward and time to turn yourself in,” Sherry Moseley said. “We need witnesses to forward. There are a lot of people who have come forward. We are appreciative of La Porte Police Department, but the big thing for the family is (for) witnesses to come forward.”

While the shooter is on the run, the family worries that someone else’s loved one could be next.

“Finding this person isn’t going to bring Eli back,” Heiskell said. “This person being punished isn’t going to make us feel any better. But without him coming forward, we can only assume he is a dangerous, violent person, and it’s only a matter of time before someone I missing an important person in their family.”

Anyone with information in this case is urged to call La Porte PD Detective Dutch Lane at 281-842-3141 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

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