The great state of Texas isn’t to blame for this. I would sentence the judge and punk each a long hitch in prison for this..unless it was a carload of illegal invaders who were hit. That would change everything. Time served and invaders pay damages to the truck.
He was 16; at 18 he would definitely have gone to jail, regardless of who he was, but the laws are different for under 18. Right or wrong, the laws ARE different, and the judge was probably ruling as the law required.