Posted on 09/03/2025 4:52:18 PM PDT by Morgana
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A 42-year-old man is charged with murder after he allegedly shot an 11-year-old boy who was playing the "ding dong ditch" game with his friends Saturday night.
Gonzalo Leon Jr. is accused of fatally shooting 11-year-old Julian Guzman on Saturday night.
Court records show that Guzman, his cousin, and some other friends were at a relative's house on Racine Street attending a birthday party. The boys reportedly got bored and decided to play the "ding dong ditch" game around the neighborhood.
Guzman and his cousin were ringing doorbells of homes in the area and running away, records state. A witness said Guzman had run to Leon's home, rang the doorbell several times, and began to run away.
Court records show that's when Leon allegedly walked out of his house, onto a public street, pointed a gun, and fired.
"There was no weapon displayed (by the boy)," Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said. "No theft of property, the young man was shot in the back, on a public street. It's a murder."
Julian was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Sunday.
Leon was initially detained by police Saturday night. Records show he would not talk to the police and asked for a lawyer. Among several reasons that prosecutors could not immediately charge Leon was that the eyewitness did not identify him as the shooter.
"One of the initial issues is that we had a negative ID," Teare said. "But that's explained in any case where you just had a young man who just watched his cousin get gunned down, and show him 6 pictures to identify somebody."
(Excerpt) Read more at abc13.com ...
Where were his parents? Why was he out that late doing crap like this?
Kids today should know better anyway with Ring.com they gonna get caught.
Wow, you have very hardened heart.
They are kids. He shot them when he was in no danger. It is a justifiable charge.
Major problem, the kid rang the bell and ran. If you’re in a “fear for your life” issue. You shoot till the threat stops. If the assailant retreats you don’t shoot. If you shoot, you shoot till the threat stops. This guys is in trouble, and the kid was wrong. Now he and the kid’s parents get to live with it. Life sucks. It sucks worse when you’re stupid. IMO
I can’t decide whether you are mean or stupid or both.
He might be confusing with those guys that were taking airsoft guns, kicking the door in and shooting into the house. These guys were just doing the same old dingdong ditch that we all did when we were kids. In the report says the guy actually walked out onto the street chasing him and shot him. I don’t care what state you’re a man that ain’t gonna fly.
Stupid is quite frequently fatal.
Don’t do stupid stuff.
L
I agree with you on this one.
Well said.
Shooting a kid in the back for ringing your doorbell. The guy better have Jesus Christ himself as his lawyer, but I don’t think he’d take the case.
Was it illegal for him to chase the kids and shoot them? Yes. Immoral? Yes. Sin? Yes.
But every kid should pay attention and learn that everyone has a breaking point. You don’t know what someone has been going through that day. Especially keep in mind the fear and adrenaline that happens if someone suddenly starts kicking your door.
It’s a very bad world...
They never say the age of his cousins and friends...the story says the deceased rang the bell several times. Prelude to home invasion? My guess is homeowner thought the worst was about to come, was angry and was in self defense mode.
I call it negligence on deceased and second or third degree manslaughter on shooter.
Ugly all the way around.
Kid and friends instigated the event. Nothing would have happened to the kid had him and friends not instigated the situation.
What happened to “the talk” these children were supposed to be given about acting like idiots, and the danger thereof.
Did you get what time of night this was? Did you also get how many times? What sane kids do $hit like this? We as kids would have NEVER!
I can only imagine what that man and others were thinking.
AT this stage, the accused is not able to air his side of what happened, because of the legal jeopardy.
It is a flaw in our system, which I do not see an easy fix for.
“I call it negligence on deceased and second or third degree manslaughter on shooter.”
The D.A. is calling it murder, with a strong possibility of capital murder.
“Wow, you have very hardened heart.“
You speak the truth.
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