Man charged after 11-year-old boy fatally shot in Houston during ‘ding dong ditch’ prank

HOUSTON (KIAH) – An 11-year-old boy was fatally shot in Houston after a prank in which he rang the doorbell of a home and ran away, police said Sunday.

Gonzalo Leon Jr., 42, was charged with murder according to Harris County jail records. He was booked early Tuesday into the Harris County Jail. A judge granted his bond at $1 million at his hearing, which took place Wednesday morning.

During the hearing, a child witness was very specific about where the shooting took place, stating that Leon Jr. came from inside of his home during the shooting and stopped near a stop sign as he continued to shoot.

According to the defendant’s attorney, Leon Jr. is a disabled Army veteran and has been married for five years with one child.

The attorney said the defendant exercised his constitutional rights by having weapons in his home.

The incident happened at the 9700 block of Racine Street about 10:55 p.m. on Saturday.

The boy, identified by police Tuesday as Julian Guzman, 11, died of his wounds Sunday, August 31, police said.

Guzman had been ringing doorbells as a prank late Saturday evening, the Houston Police Department said in a statement. Commonly referred to as “ding dong ditching,” the prank involves fleeing before someone inside the home opens the door.

Officers detained one person at the scene for questioning. That individual was questioned and released as the investigation continued.

On Tuesday, members of HPD’s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Detail and Criminal Apprehension Team (CAT) took Leon into custody and he was booked into the Harris County Jail.

Meanwhile, Guzman’s family has created a GoFundMe page for donations.

Other “ding dong ditch” pranks have turned deadly in the past. In 2023, a Southern California man was convicted on three counts of first-degree murder for killing three teenage boys by intentionally ramming their car after they rang his doorbell as a prank.

And in May, a Virginia man was charged with second-degree murder for fatally shooting an 18-year-old who had rung his doorbell while a filming a TikTok video of the prank, the New York Times reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.