Kane Roden, 31, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison for gunning down Uber driver Tahirou Diallo in North Richland Hills last year, closing the criminal case against a man with a long history of violent charges. The plea was announced by prosecutors today, more than a year after the early-morning shooting left Diallo, 60, dead in the street where he had picked up his final fare.
According to the Tarrant County DA, Roden ordered an Uber to the 8000 block of Mickey Street in North Richland Hills in the early hours of May 7, 2025. When Diallo arrived to pick him up, Roden, who was highly intoxicated, pulled out a gun and shot and killed him. Neighborhood surveillance cameras had captured Diallo’s vehicle transporting Roden down that same block shortly before midnight, moments before the fatal shooting occurred, according to WFAA.
This plea doesn’t bring back Tahirou Diallo – as his widow wrote in a letter read aloud in the courtroom. But it does guarantee that Kane Roden “is off the streets … and won’t hurt anyone else.”Thanks to Det. Joe West and the NRH Police Department for their work on this case. pic.twitter.com/cDFp0Z3r5f
— Tarrant County DA (@TarrantCountyDA) August 31, 2026
A Chilling Eyewitness Account
An eyewitness, Lauren Shoffit, told FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth that she saw the passenger get out of the vehicle, walk around the back to the driver’s side, adopt a two-handed shooting stance, and fire at Diallo before she saw the muzzle flash and ran away. When North Richland Hills officers arrived at the scene at 12:01 a.m., they found Roden severely intoxicated alongside Diallo’s SUV, with the handgun used in the shooting lying on the ground directly next to him, the station reported…