A 10-year-old boy confessed to shooting and killing a man in his sleep two years ago, according to Texas officials.
Brandon Rasberry was killed while sleeping at a recreational vehicle (RV) park in Nixon, Texas, in January 2022, just four days after arriving in the region.
The 32-year-old’s body was discovered after he failed to show up for work for two days. He had been shot in the head.
The Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office said the child – who was seven at the time of the shooting and did not know Mr. Rasberry – could not be charged with the crime because of his age.
Under Texas law, a child must be at least ten years old to be criminally guilty. The boy was later evaluated at a psychiatric hospital and is being held in juvenile detention for a separate incident.
Speaking to local news outlet KSAT, the victim’s father, Kenneth Rasberry, said: “He’s a little boy, for reasons that I’m sure, these counselors and case managers and all that, are going to take apart the brain of this poor little boy.
“He needs prayers. He needs comfort… He’s forgiven. And he can still be saved. He’s so young. He’s definitely tormented by something.”
Boy threatened to kill student
The sheriff’s office said it was called April 12 about a boy who had threatened to assault and kill another student on a bus the day before.
When a deputy arrived at the school, he spoke with officials who told him the child admitted to shooting a man in 2022.
After transporting him to a defense center, he admitted killing Mr Rasberry at the caravan park and described the incident in detail.
According to the sheriff’s office, the child said he was visiting his grandfather – who lived near Mr. Rasberry – at Lazy J RV Park.
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On January 16, the child said he took a gun out of a glove compartment of his grandfather’s truck and then entered the RV owned by Mr. Rasberry. He then shot him in the head.
As he left the mobile home, the child fired another shot into a sofa, before putting the firearm back in the truck’s glove compartment.
The child added that he had never met Mr. Rasberry and was not angry with him before the shooting.
He was placed on emergency detention for 72 hours and then transported to a San Antonio psychiatric hospital for evaluation and treatment.
Upon his release from the hospital, the child was booked into a terrorist threat charge in connection with the school bus incident and placed in detention.