A 10-year-old boy in Texas allegedly confessed to killing a random 32-year-old man two years prior when he was just 7 years old.
According to authorities, the boy told investigators he snuck into the victim’s RV in 2022 while visiting his grandfather, who lived nearby in an RV park, and fatally shot the sleeping man in the head.
“The Child stated he observed Brandon sleeping in his bed and approached Brandon and discharged the firearm into Brandon striking him one time in the head,” authorities stated. “The child stated as he was leaving the RV he discharged the firearm another time into the couch inside the RV. The child then exited the RV and returned the firearm to the glovebox of the truck.”
He provided details consistent with evidence and said he didn’t know the victim or have a motive.
The gun used was later linked by ballistics.
Due to his age at the time of the murder, state law prohibits charging the juvenile, who is currently detained for an unrelated incident where he allegedly threatened another student.
“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 Sheriff said.
“Because of the child’s age, Texas Penal Code 8.07 states that a child does not have criminal culpability until they reach the age of ten years old. At the time of the murder the juvenile suspect was seven years old, one week shy of his 8th birthday. Therefore charges for murder will not be filed and cannot be accepted by the Gonzales County Attorney’s Office for consideration of prosecution in accordance with state law,” he said.
Speaking with KSAT, the victim’s father, Kenneth Rasberry, said he was “shocked, very shocked” to learn the identity of his son’s killer. “This isn’t anywhere the suspect that we thought it was,” he added.
The victim’s father expressed shock at the suspect’s young age but said the boy needs counseling and forgiveness, hoping he can still be saved given his youth.
“This is a little boy, for reasons that I’m sure these counselors and case managers and all of that, that’s going to pick that poor little boy’s brain apart,” the father said. “[The boy] needs to be prayed on. He needs to be comforted … He’s forgiven. And he can still be saved. He’s so young. He’s definitely tormented by something.”
