On a Saturday, August 30 at 11 pm, 11-year-old Julián Guzman decided to play ding-dong ditch in his neighborhood. While running away, Guzman was shot by a home owner. When the police arrived at the scene, Guzman was already wounded and was then taken to the hospital. Less than 24 hours later, he died.
Julián Guzman and his cousin decided to play ding-dong ditch right before 11 pm. They rang the doorbell at a multitude of houses, and ran away seconds later. After ringing the doorbell of one house, the owner came out from behind the house. The boys got about 20 feet away before two shots were fired. One of the bullets landed in Guzman’s back. His cousin stated that he came back to help Guzman and had to drag the wounded boy away. He also went on to state that he saw a man dressed in black next to a stop sign.
The suspect in question is Gonzalo Leon Jr. Leon. He was taken into custody on Saturday, August 30. It was not until the following Tuesday, that he was charged with murder.
On Wednesday, he was able to appear at court. It was then that the Judge Emily DeToto, set his bond at 1 million dollars. His bond conditions include home confinement and electronic monitoring.
This is not the first time an incident like this has been fatal. In a Dallas suburb at the end of July, a man started shooting at a fleeing car after someone banged on his door. In 2020, three 16-year-olds were killed after a man rammed his car into their vehicle after they rang his doorbell and ran away.
Over the past few years, what was once thought of nothing more than a teenage prank, has turned into a life-or-death game.
