{"id":36547,"date":"2025-09-02T16:56:57","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T16:56:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=36547"},"modified":"2025-09-02T16:56:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T16:56:57","slug":"man-charged-with-murder-of-11-year-old-boy-shot-during-ding-dong-ditch-prank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=36547","title":{"rendered":"Man Charged with Murder of 11-Year-Old Boy Shot During Ding Dong Ditch Prank"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--\/.article__sub-header--><\/p>\n<div class=\"article__blocks\">\n<section id=\"cb-c1c29b69946ac5b4f7966c85d3cc9b1f\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-image-block canvas-image-block-permalink canvas-block-is-first \">\n<div class=\"image-block primary-media image-block__primary-media image-block--has-credit\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto; display: block; margin: 1em auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/images.toofab.com\/image\/81\/4by3\/2025\/09\/02\/81a0385d0ae24772be98270eeaab2587_md.jpg\" \/> <span class=\"media-credit image-block__media-credit\">Houston Police Department<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-c1c29b69946ac5b4f7966c85d3cc9b1f--> <!--\/#cb-0ee570a725fee6f32240dee0399a0acf--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-4a8fa26fd53902ebed7717414cf6c87e\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink \">\n<div class=\"text-block-is-first\">\n<p>A man in Texas has been charged with murder after an 11-year-old boy was killed during a ding dong ditch prank.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-4a8fa26fd53902ebed7717414cf6c87e--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-14538e338a4f9680bc6b6e78b0bd0afd\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink \">On Tuesday, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.houstontx.gov\/police\/nr\/2025\/sep\/nr090225-1.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Houston Police Department announced<\/strong><\/a> the murder charge for Gonzalo Leon Jr., 42, who is accused of killing Julian Guzman around 10:55 p.m. on August 30.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-14538e338a4f9680bc6b6e78b0bd0afd--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-c329102c50e7027fd39ee102790aae54\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink \">Authorities responded to a residence Saturday evening after a young male had been shot and transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced deceased the following day.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-c329102c50e7027fd39ee102790aae54--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-e79919f3d40d8214db5c282d28861dd3\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-article-block canvas-article-block-permalink \">\n<article class=\"article-block\">\n<div class=\"article-block__card-img\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto; display: block; margin: 1em auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/images.toofab.com\/image\/69\/5by4\/2025\/09\/02\/696eeb83721b4facb00f939f440d3078_xs.jpg\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-block__card-body\">\n<h4 class=\"article-block__card-title \">Man Suspected of Murdering 2-Year-Old 5 Years Ago Caught Wearing Long Wig: Police<\/h4>\n<p><span class=\"article-block__cta-text\">View Story<\/span><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-e79919f3d40d8214db5c282d28861dd3--> <!--\/#cb-2e29148b250b9d9fc247c0082c0f3ad6--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-6288ffb774ced30e5f27d9674e95ece9\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink \">During a press conference over the weekend, via <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/US\/man-charged-murder-houston-ding-dong-ditch-shooting\/story?id=125177715\" rel=\"noreferrer\"><strong>ABC News<\/strong><\/a>, Houston police Sgt. Michael Cass said the boy was shot in the back. &#8220;Our witness says the suspect came out of the door, ran out into the street and was firing down the road,&#8221; he added, saying the victim ran for about a block before he collapsed in the street. The boy reportedly lived about a block from the home.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-6288ffb774ced30e5f27d9674e95ece9--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-c0fda8f9fd8dae35cb3dbfab9a37b11f\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink \">&#8220;In my opinion, it doesn&#8217;t look like any type of self-defense,&#8221; said Cass, who said the shooting &#8220;wasn&#8217;t close to the house.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-c0fda8f9fd8dae35cb3dbfab9a37b11f--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-653a9f9182f1104a352a472bca75c2d2\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink \">Someone was taken in, detained and questioned by police, but released; it was unclear at the time whether Leon Jr. was that person. Per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.khou.com\/article\/news\/crime\/ding-dong-ditch-shooting-houston-texas-murder-charge\/285-f3d7b4ea-0d55-4e95-9904-94fa9a852fe1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>KHOU<\/strong><\/a>, several rifles and handguns were seized from the home.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-653a9f9182f1104a352a472bca75c2d2--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-11408c3e2d4a2db59df83c576e657e1c\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-text-block canvas-text-block-permalink \">Leon Jr. was later identified as the suspect, before he was charged on Monday and taken into custody by SWAT this morning. He&#8217;s currently behind bars at Harris County Jail.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-11408c3e2d4a2db59df83c576e657e1c--><\/p>\n<section id=\"cb-56da9d034116bfbf8267392f814cd3bb\" class=\"canvas-block canvas-block-permalink canvas-article-block canvas-article-block-permalink canvas-block-is-last \">\n<article class=\"article-block\">\n<div class=\"article-block__card-img\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"max-width: 100%; height: auto; display: block; margin: 1em auto;\" src=\"https:\/\/images.toofab.com\/image\/85\/5by4\/2025\/09\/01\/85f240eaa4ad4707b353bda48b32f356_xs.jpg\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-block__card-body\">\n<h4 class=\"article-block__card-title \">Neighbors Help Man Move &#8216;Heavy&#8217; Object Into Car, Before Seeing Dead Body Report on News<\/h4>\n<p><span class=\"article-block__cta-text\">View Story<\/span><\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/section>\n<p><!--\/#cb-56da9d034116bfbf8267392f814cd3bb--><\/div>\n<p><!--\/.article__blocks--><\/p>\n<section class=\"tag-cloud\"><a class=\"tag-cloud__list-group-item js-track-link\" href=\"https:\/\/toofab.com\/categories\/true-crime\/\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;main&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;tag-cloud&quot;,&quot;pos&quot;:1}\"> True Crime <\/a><a class=\"tag-cloud__list-group-item js-track-link\" href=\"https:\/\/toofab.com\/tags\/News\/\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;main&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;tag-cloud&quot;,&quot;pos&quot;:1}\"> #News <\/a><\/section>\n<p><!--\/.tag-cloud-->&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><!--\/.social--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Houston Police Department A man in Texas has been charged with murder after an 11-year-old boy was killed during a ding dong ditch prank. On Tuesday, the Houston Police Department &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36549,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36547\/revisions\/36549"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}