An east Houston man has been charged in the deadly shooting of an 11-year-old boy who was gunned down while playing a doorbell prank with friends Saturday night.
Houston police said Gonzalo Leon Jr., 42, has been charged with murder and is being held in Harris County Jail. A SWAT team arrested Leon on Tuesday.
The victim was identified as Julian Guzman, 11, who died Sunday from a gunshot wound to the back.
The Shooting
Police said Guzman was with a group of friends playing “ding dong ditch,” a prank where kids ring a doorbell and run away. Witnesses told detectives Guzman rang the doorbell of a home and was running down the street when someone came out and fired at the children.
“He was shot in the back,” Sgt. Michael Cass of HPD’s homicide division told KHOU.
Officers who responded found Guzman wounded. He was rushed to a hospital, where he later died.
Weapons Seized
In the hours after the shooting, police detained a man at the home for questioning but released him. Detectives executed a search warrant at the residence and seized multiple rifles and handguns. Authorities have not clarified if Leon was the individual initially detained.
Pattern of Deadly Pranks
This is not the first time a “ding dong ditch” prank has turned deadly:
In 2023, a California man was convicted of murder for ramming a car carrying three teens who had rung his doorbell, killing them all.
In May 2025, a Virginia man was charged with second-degree murder for shooting a teen who had recorded a TikTok video of himself playing the prank.
Not Self-Defense, Police Say
Although Texas law allows deadly force in certain self-defense cases, investigators stressed this case did not appear to meet that standard.
“These circumstances don’t appear consistent with any type of self-defense claim,” Sgt. Cass said.
The case remains under investigation.
