Houston man charged with murder in shooting of 11-year-old boy after
door knocking prank
[September 03, 2025]
By JUAN A. LOZANO
HOUSTON (AP) — Police have charged a Houston man with murder in the
fatal shooting of an 11-year-old boy who knocked on the door of a home
and ran away as a prank, police said Tuesday.
The 42-year-old man, identified by authorities as Gonzalo Leon Jr., was
taken into custody and booked into the Harris County Jail in Houston
early Tuesday. On local property records, Leon matches the name of the
owner of the home where police say the boy knocked on the door.
Court records did not list an attorney for Leon to comment on the
allegations.
The boy, Julian Guzman, and a cousin had been attending a birthday party
Saturday night when they “became bored and wanted to ring doorbells, or
play ‘ding dong ditch,’” according to a probable cause affidavit. The
prank commonly called “ding dong ditching” involves ringing a doorbell
or knocking on a door and fleeing before someone inside opens the door.
Police departments around the country have issued public service
announcements in recent months warning people that such actions aren’t
funny but dangerous. Homeowners have no way of knowing it’s “just a
prank,” according to a June Facebook post by the Georgetown, Kentucky
Police Department.
Guzman’s cousin told investigators he and Guzman knocked several times
on Leon’s door and ran away. In an initial statement, police had said
Guzman rang a doorbell, but the affidavit said the boy knocked.
The final time he and the cousin knocked, Leon came out holding a pistol
that he fired once into the ground. Leon then raised the pistol and
fired at Guzman and his cousin, according to the affidavit.
“Our witness says the suspect came out of the door, ran out into the
street and was firing down the road,” Houston police Sgt. Michael Cass
told reporters on Sunday.
Guzman’s cousin told police that Guzman “cried out in pain that he had
been shot,” according to the affidavit. As Guzman's cousin was trying to
drag the boy away, Leon slowly walked back to his house.
Guzman was shot in the back and died Sunday, police said.
“In my opinion, it doesn’t look like any type of self-defense. It wasn’t
close to the house,” Cass said.
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A makeshift memorial for 11-year-old Julian Guzman, who was shot and
killed during a doorbell prank, is shown Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025, in
Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Police found about 20 firearms in Leon's home, including AR-style
rifles, shotguns and medium caliber pistols.
Texas and other states have some version of a “castle doctrine,”
either by law or court precedent, that says residents don’t have to
retreat when threatened in their homes but instead can respond with
physical force. While Texas law gives people broad latitude to
protect themselves, protect others or protect their property, there
has to be a reasonable belief that force is immediately necessary in
the situation.
Seth Kretzer, an attorney in Houston not connected to the case, said
if the shooting happened as police allege then Leon would not have a
strong case for self-defense under state law.
“You just can’t shoot a kid in the street dead because he knocks on
your doorbell and declare you felt threatened by him. I mean it's a
little hard to believe a grown male with a gun felt threatened by an
unarmed 11-year-old child running away on the street," Kretzer said.
About a half block away from the suspect's home and where Guzman
collapsed after being shot, a makeshift memorial had been set up
with a cross, prayer candles, flowers and a photo of the boy.
Various messages were written on the cross, including, “I miss you
Julian. I still wish you were here but I will always love you 4ever”
and “I love you Julian. You will always be in my heart. Rest In
Peace Baby Mom.”
Other “ding dong ditch” pranks have turned deadly in the past. In
2023, a Southern California man was convicted of first-degree murder
for killing three teenage boys by intentionally ramming their car
after they rang his doorbell as a prank.
In May, a Virginia man was charged with second-degree murder for
shooting an 18-year-old who rang his doorbell while a filming a
TikTok video, the New York Times reported.
___
Associated Press photographer David J. Phillip contributed to this
report.
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