{"id":36802,"date":"2025-09-03T23:46:44","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T23:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=36802"},"modified":"2025-09-03T23:46:44","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T23:46:44","slug":"sick-new-details-emerge-in-houston-ding-dong-ditch-murder-as-suspects-charges-upgraded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=36802","title":{"rendered":"Sick new details emerge in Houston \u2018ding-dong ditch\u2019 murder as suspect\u2019s charges upgraded"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Texas homeowner charged with\u00a0gunning down an 11-year-old boy<\/a>\u00a0over a \u201cding-dong ditch\u201d prank is now charged with capital murder as new details emerged that he was lying in wait for the victim.<\/p>\n

Gonzalo Leon Jr., 42, was arrested Tuesday and charged with murder after police said he shot young Julian Guzman\u00a0moments after he rang the doorbell<\/a>\u00a0of his east Houston home late Saturday.<\/p>\n

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\"Photo3<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Julian Guzman, 11, was fatally shot after playing \u201cding-dong ditch\u201d with some friends in east Houston.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The boy and some friends were playing the prank, which involves knocking on a door or ringing a doorbell and then running away without being seen. The decades-old practical joke has seen a recent resurgence on TikTok.<\/p>\n

After being taken into custody by a SWAT team, Leon was booked into Harris County Jail and charged with murder.<\/p>\n

Authorities now say Leon was waiting for the children to return after they had knocked on his door several times.<\/p>\n

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The alleged gunman, Gonzalo Leon Jr., 42, went out into the street before opening fire on the scattering children, cops said.Houston Police<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis was someone brutally murdering an 11-year-old simply because they were mad,\u201d Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told\u00a0Fox 26 Houston<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a little boy who didn\u2019t even have a chance to get his life going yet, struck down for nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Records show Julian\u2019s cousin said he saw Leon emerge from a gate by his house before making his way to the street, firing once at the ground before shooting at the fleeing boys.<\/p>\n

Julian made it about a block from Leon\u2019s home before collapsing, the outlet reported, his cousin attempting to drag him to safety. The child was rushed to a nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries, police said.<\/p>\n

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\"Police3<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Cops found an arsenal of more than 20 firearms when they searched Leon\u2019s home, including rifles, long guns and handguns. His own young son was also at home at the time of the killing.WHOU<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Upon searching Leon\u2019s home, police discovered an arsenal of more than 20 firearms, including rifles, long guns and handguns.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just shot him down in the street and went about his business,\u201d Teare said. \u201cWhat you can never do is discharge your firearm out of anger, ever. When things like that happen, tragedies like this occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leon, whose own young son was home at the time of the alleged murder, was briefly detained after the shooting for questioning but released before he was arrested days later. Authorities said he has yet to make a statement to investigators.<\/p>\n

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Capital murder is the most serious murder charge there is, typically involving factors that make the crime especially heinous or egregious and elevate it above a typical homicide. The upgraded charge could potentially make Leon eligible for the death penalty, which Texas does impose.<\/p>\n

Leon is scheduled to appear for a bond hearing Wednesday, when prosecutors said they will be requesting a $1 million bond.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Texas homeowner charged with\u00a0gunning down an 11-year-old boy\u00a0over a \u201cding-dong ditch\u201d prank is now charged with capital murder as new details emerged that he was lying in … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36802","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\/36802","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=36802"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36803,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36802\/revisions\/36803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/36801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}