(NEXSTAR/AP) - A man in Houston has been charged in the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old boy after a prank in which the boy rang the doorbell of a home and ran away.
Leon Gonzalo Jr., 42, was charged Monday with murder, according to the Houston Police Department.
The boy had been ringing doorbells as a prank late Saturday evening, the Houston Police Department said in a statement. The boy, who was shot once, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead Sunday, police said.
Commonly referred to as “ding dong ditching,” the prank involves fleeing before someone inside the home opens the door. A witness said the 11-year-old was running away from the house when he was shot, police said.
Gonzalo was booked into the Harris County Jail. Police spokesperson Shay Awosiyan said that offi