Houston man charged with murder in shooting of 11-year-old boy after doorbell prank

In this file photo, Houston police block ramps due to high waters on flooded highways in Houston, on Monday, July 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Maria Lysaker)

Police have charged a Houston man with murder in the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old boy who knocked on the door of a home and ran away as a prank, police said Tuesday.

The 42-year-old man, identified by authorities as Gonzalo Leon Jr., was taken into custody and booked into the Harris County Jail in Houston early Tuesday. On local property records, Leon matches the name of the owner of the home where police say the boy knocked on the door.

Court records did not list an attorney for Leon to comment on the allegations.

The boy, Julian Guzman, and a cousin had been attending a birthday party Saturday night when they “became bored and wanted to ring doorbells, or play `ding dong ditch,”' according to a probable cause affidavit. The prank commonly called “ding dong ditching” involves ringing a doorbell or knocking on a door and fleeing before someone inside opens the door.

Police departments around the country have issued public service announcements in recent months warning people that such actions aren’t funny but dangerous. Homeowners have no way of knowing it’s “just a prank,” according to a June Facebook post by the Georgetown, Kentucky Police Department.

Guzman’s cousin told investigators he and Guzman knocked several times on Leon’s door and ran away. In an initial statement, police had said Guzman rang a doorbell, but the affidavit said the boy knocked.

The final time he and the cousin knocked, Leon came out holding a pistol that he fired once into the ground. Leon then raised the pistol and fired at Guzman and his cousin, according to the affidavit.

“Our witness says the suspect came out of the door, ran out into the street and was firing down the road,” Houston police Sgt. Michael Cass told reporters on Sunday.

Guzman’s cousin told police that Guzman “cried out in pain that he had been shot,” according to the affidavit. As Guzman’s cousin was trying to drag the boy away, Leon slowly walked back to his house.

Guzman was shot in the back and died Sunday, police said.

“In my opinion, it doesn’t look like any type of self-defence. It wasn’t close to the house,” Cass said.

Police found about 20 firearms in Leon’s home, including AR-style rifles, shotguns and medium caliber pistols.

Texas and other states have some version of a “castle doctrine,” either by law or court precedent, that says residents don’t have to retreat when threatened in their homes but instead can respond with physical force. While Texas law gives people broad latitude to protect themselves, protect others or protect their property, there has to be a reasonable belief that force is immediately necessary in the situation.

Seth Kretzer, an attorney in Houston not connected to the case, said if the shooting happened as police allege then Leon would not have a strong case for self-defence under state law.

“You just can’t shoot a kid in the street dead because he knocks on your doorbell and declare you felt threatened by him. I mean it’s a little hard to believe a grown male with a gun felt threatened by an unarmed 11-year-old child running away on the street,” Kretzer said.

About a half block away from the suspect’s home and where Guzman collapsed after being shot, a makeshift memorial had been set up with a cross, prayer candles, flowers and a photo of the boy.

Various messages were written on the cross, including, “I miss you Julian. I still wish you were here but I will always love you 4ever” and “I love you Julian. You will always be in my heart. Rest In Peace Baby Mom.”

Other “ding dong ditch” pranks have turned deadly in the past. In 2023, a Southern California man was convicted of first-degree murder for killing three teenage boys by intentionally ramming their car after they rang his doorbell as a prank.

In May, a Virginia man was charged with second-degree murder for shooting an 18-year-old who rang his doorbell while a filming a TikTok video, the New York Times reported.

Juan A. Lozano, The Associated Press