Authorities charge Gonzalo Leon Jr. with murder after he allegedly shot 11-year-old Julian Guzman during a ding dong ditch game in Houston.
HOUSTON — Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare is addressing the murder charge against a man accused of fatally shooting an 11-year-old boy playing “ding dong ditch” in east Houston.
The suspect in the case, Gonzalo Leon Jr., 42, was taken into custody on Tuesday morning by members of HPD’s Special Weapons and Tactics Detail and Criminal Apprehension Team and booked into the Harris County Jail.
The victim has been identified as Julian Guzman, 11. Doctors pronounced him dead on Aug. 31 after he was taken to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. His family started a GoFundMe account to raise money in the wake of the tragedy.
Teare said investigators put together pieces of evidence to make an arrest, in part based on an eyewitness — Guzman’s cousin, who was with him knocking on doors that night.
“As it sits right now, he has not identified the defendant in anything other than the type of clothing he was wearing and where he came out of the backyard,” Teare told KHOU 11’s Len Cannon.
Leon was questioned on the night of the shooting, but Teare said he had not admitted to any involvement.
“That night he was questioned, didn’t say what happened, how it happened, if he did anything,” Teare confirmed. When asked if Leon hadn’t admitted to anything, Teare replied, “Correct.”
Tear said Guzman’s cell phone captured the tragic moment. Police report that the recording includes him knocking on the door, the sound of gunshots and the boy gasping for air after being struck.
“There is no way that little boy was posing a threat… and he was running away on a public street. This is not stand your ground, this is not manslaughter,” Teare said. “This is murder.”
Teare emphasized that the shooting was unprovoked and that authorities are continuing their investigation.
“In our day, when I was growing up, you didn’t get murdered for playing ding dong ditch,” Teare said.
What happened
The shooting unfolded around 11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, on Racine Street near Mimbrough and Fidelity streets, just east of the East Loop, according to the Houston Police Department.
The boy and a group of kids had been ringing doorbells when they knocked on one home. Witnesses told police that someone came outside and opened fire as the children ran away.
A witness says someone ran out of that house and was shooting at the kids running down the street, and unfortunately, sadly enough, one of the boys, who was 11 years old, was shot in the back,” HPD Homicide Detective Sgt. Michael Cass said.
The child was rushed to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds and later died Sunday afternoon.
In a new interview with CBS News, police said Julian and a cousin rang the doorbell two times before, but it was the third time that led to the shooting.
New details released in court documents on Tuesday said a witness told police that Leon fired a warning shot into the ground before firing a shot at Julian as he ran away.
“If you shoot them in the back, knowing you’re gonna be in a whole lot of trouble one way or the other,” a neighbor who didn’t want to be identified said.
Authorities said Julian was running down a sidewalk away from Leon’s home when he was shot. KHOU 11 News learned that there’s video that shows them ringing the doorbell and running away before the shots rang out.
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