A Texas 10-year-old arrested for fatally shooting a sleeping man can’t be charged with murder by law enforcement authorities.
10-year-old arrested in connection with terroristic threats
32-year-old Brandon O’Quinn Rasberry was discovered deceased inside his RV at the Lazy J RV Park in Nixon, Texas on January 18, 2022.
The Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office announced this week that an autopsy revealed Rasberry suffered a gunshot wound to the head and his death was ruled a homicide.
The involvement of the young boy in Rasberry’s shooting came to light on April 12, after the principal at the boy’s school called the sheriff’s office to report the 10-year-old’s threats “to assault and kill another student on a bus” the previous day.
“A Deputy was dispatched to the school to take a report and complete an investigation,” according to the press release from the sheriff’s office.
“When the Deputy arrived he spoke with school officials who informed the Deputy the child made a statement that he shot and killed a man two years ago.”
After making the murderous statement, the boy was taken to a center for child advocacy for an interview. There, he recounted specific details of Rasberry’s murder, stating he was at his grandfather’s place on January 16, 2022, at the Lazy J RV Park.
He confessed to retrieving a 9 mm handgun from his grandfather’s truck’s glove compartment, entering Rasberry’s RV, and shooting him in the head while he slept in an unprovoked slaying. He also admitted to firing another round into Rasberry’s couch before he left.
“When asked, the child stated he had never met Brandon, and did not know who he was although he had observed him walking around the RV earlier in the day,” stated the sheriff’s office.
“The child was also asked if he was mad at Brandon for some reason or if Brandon had ever done anything to him to make him mad, the child stated no.”
The firearm described by the boy as the murder weapon was later found by law enforcement at a pawn shop in Seguin, Texas.
A forensic examination of two bullet casings recovered from the crime scene confirmed the firearm’s use in Rasberry’s murder, according to the sheriff’s office.
Since Texas legislation “states that a child does not have criminal culpability until they reach the age of ten years old,” the boy will not face murder charges. The boy was seven-years-old at the time of Raspberry’s slaying, and only turned eight a week later.
Rasberry’s brother, Jonathan Fojtik, is stunned that a child is responsible for his sibling’s horrific death.
“Finding out it was a 7-year-old that committed the murder, a senseless murder at that, it’s just tragic. It’s kind of hard to wrap your head around,” he told KENS5. “Brandon was a loving person. He’d give the shirt off his back for anyone.”
After his confession, the boy was subjected to a 72-hour emergency hold and transported to a psychiatric facility in San Antonio for both evaluation and treatment.
10-year-old arrested on charges unrelated to murder
Despite not being allowed to be charged with murder, the boy was taken to the Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office after being released from the psychiatric hospital and processed on a charge of making a terroristic threat for the incident on the school bus.
“Unfortunately, we’re lucky that the boy threatened another kid at school and a counselor got involved and then the truth was brought out,” Fojtik remarked about the child’s arrest. “We’re looking for answers. We found them. It wasn’t really what were hoping for.”
Currently detained in Gonzales County, the boy awaits his court appearance. At this point, it is undisclosed whether he has legal representation.
