abudabit
04-11-2007, 05:12 PM
A 37-year-old man charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of a 7-year-old boy Tuesday told sheriff's deputies he was trying out some new ammunition by target shooting in his backyard when the boy was shot, according to court documents.
Seven-year-old Daniel Galicia died after a bullet from a .22-caliber rifle struck him while he was jumping on a trampoline with friends at a home on High Road in rural Hays County.
Larry Kolvoord
AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Jose Barrera Espitia, who lives near the house where Daniel and four other children were playing, has been charged with manslaughter, a second-degree felony that carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison. He remains in the Hays County Jail and bail has not been set, the sheriff's office said.
Early this morning, authorities arrested Espitia and found the rifle they believe fired the fatal shot, the sheriff's office said. Espitia told deputies that he didn't know that Daniel and the other children were playing in the yard and couldn't see the yard from his home, according to court documents. He believed he had hit his wooden target with each shot fired, he told deputies, and had no idea that anyone had been injured.
An initial phone call to authorities around 7:30 p.m. indicated Daniel had fallen from the trampoline, authorities said. Then a second call came in saying the boy had been shot and CPR was in progress.
When Emergency Medical Services workers arrived, they rushed Galicia to Brackenridge Hospital, where he died shortly after his arrival, according to the sheriff's office.
Hays County Sheriff's spokesman Leroy Opiela said deputies began canvassing the area near the boy's house, talking to anyone who might have known who was firing shots.
A neighbor, Felix Rangel, told deputies that he heard about five or six shots come from a cluster of houses north of the boy's house at about the same time that the boy was injured, according to court documents.
Investigators then obtained a search warrant for Espitia's home, about a third of a mile from where Daniel and other children were playing on the trampoline in an area of farmland and mobile homes east of Kyle.
Daniel was a first-grader at Hemphill Elementary School in Kyle, said Hemphill principal Mike Hanson. The boy was "just a great little kid" with a cherubic face, a big smile and a buzz-cut haircut that his classmates loved to touch, Hanson said. Counselors were at the school this morning to talk to teachers and students and the district will be sending a letter home explaining what happened, district officials said. Daniel's class and teacher are in shock, Hanson said.
Daniel's cousin Beatriz Diaz, 21, said Daniel would get home from school, do his homework, then leap on the trampoline behind the house where his cousins live. When the children were on the trampoline Tuesday night, shots rang out from "somewhere up there," Diaz said, motioning with her chin to a row of yellow, gray and blue mobile homes.
Diaz stood a few yards from the trampoline, where the family dog was sleeping and an empty hammock swung from the tree next to it. Her nose was red from crying.
"We're all kind of shocked," she said. "Those kids would jump every day on the trampoline and nothing happened until last night."
Jose Rangel, 21, lives near the Galicia family in a mobile home down a gravel road. He said his family has known the Galicias for years and that his parents and Daniel's parents knew each other in Mexico.
Rangel said he was at the scene last night and tried to resuscitate Daniel with help from 911 operators.
"We were touching his shirt, but it was soaked in blood," Rangel said. "We tried to do what we could, but nothing was working in his body."
"He was probably just shooting for fun," Rangel said of Espitia. "But the only time we ever hear gunshots around here, usually, is during New Year's."
"Hays County is still a rural county, and people move here and think it is OK to shoot," Opiela said. "Houses in this area are pretty close together, and if you are shooting the wrong direction, something can happen like it did last night.
"We feel like it was reckless on his part to be shooting," he said.
Diaz said Daniel's parents, Faustina and Julio Galicia, are planning to bury Daniel in Mexico.
Rangel said the shooting worries him and his family.
"I have a little sister who is a year and a half (old)," he said, looking at the little girl. "You move out of the city to feel safe and something like this happens. I can't feel safe anymore."
Staff writer Tony Plohetski contributed to this story.
Just goes to show, never plink from an elevated point. Not sure how far away he was but he didn't see the kid and the kid didn't see him.
Seven-year-old Daniel Galicia died after a bullet from a .22-caliber rifle struck him while he was jumping on a trampoline with friends at a home on High Road in rural Hays County.
Larry Kolvoord
AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Jose Barrera Espitia, who lives near the house where Daniel and four other children were playing, has been charged with manslaughter, a second-degree felony that carries a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison. He remains in the Hays County Jail and bail has not been set, the sheriff's office said.
Early this morning, authorities arrested Espitia and found the rifle they believe fired the fatal shot, the sheriff's office said. Espitia told deputies that he didn't know that Daniel and the other children were playing in the yard and couldn't see the yard from his home, according to court documents. He believed he had hit his wooden target with each shot fired, he told deputies, and had no idea that anyone had been injured.
An initial phone call to authorities around 7:30 p.m. indicated Daniel had fallen from the trampoline, authorities said. Then a second call came in saying the boy had been shot and CPR was in progress.
When Emergency Medical Services workers arrived, they rushed Galicia to Brackenridge Hospital, where he died shortly after his arrival, according to the sheriff's office.
Hays County Sheriff's spokesman Leroy Opiela said deputies began canvassing the area near the boy's house, talking to anyone who might have known who was firing shots.
A neighbor, Felix Rangel, told deputies that he heard about five or six shots come from a cluster of houses north of the boy's house at about the same time that the boy was injured, according to court documents.
Investigators then obtained a search warrant for Espitia's home, about a third of a mile from where Daniel and other children were playing on the trampoline in an area of farmland and mobile homes east of Kyle.
Daniel was a first-grader at Hemphill Elementary School in Kyle, said Hemphill principal Mike Hanson. The boy was "just a great little kid" with a cherubic face, a big smile and a buzz-cut haircut that his classmates loved to touch, Hanson said. Counselors were at the school this morning to talk to teachers and students and the district will be sending a letter home explaining what happened, district officials said. Daniel's class and teacher are in shock, Hanson said.
Daniel's cousin Beatriz Diaz, 21, said Daniel would get home from school, do his homework, then leap on the trampoline behind the house where his cousins live. When the children were on the trampoline Tuesday night, shots rang out from "somewhere up there," Diaz said, motioning with her chin to a row of yellow, gray and blue mobile homes.
Diaz stood a few yards from the trampoline, where the family dog was sleeping and an empty hammock swung from the tree next to it. Her nose was red from crying.
"We're all kind of shocked," she said. "Those kids would jump every day on the trampoline and nothing happened until last night."
Jose Rangel, 21, lives near the Galicia family in a mobile home down a gravel road. He said his family has known the Galicias for years and that his parents and Daniel's parents knew each other in Mexico.
Rangel said he was at the scene last night and tried to resuscitate Daniel with help from 911 operators.
"We were touching his shirt, but it was soaked in blood," Rangel said. "We tried to do what we could, but nothing was working in his body."
"He was probably just shooting for fun," Rangel said of Espitia. "But the only time we ever hear gunshots around here, usually, is during New Year's."
"Hays County is still a rural county, and people move here and think it is OK to shoot," Opiela said. "Houses in this area are pretty close together, and if you are shooting the wrong direction, something can happen like it did last night.
"We feel like it was reckless on his part to be shooting," he said.
Diaz said Daniel's parents, Faustina and Julio Galicia, are planning to bury Daniel in Mexico.
Rangel said the shooting worries him and his family.
"I have a little sister who is a year and a half (old)," he said, looking at the little girl. "You move out of the city to feel safe and something like this happens. I can't feel safe anymore."
Staff writer Tony Plohetski contributed to this story.
Just goes to show, never plink from an elevated point. Not sure how far away he was but he didn't see the kid and the kid didn't see him.