The mother of a Johnson County Sonic Drive-In employee gunned down by a 12-year-old boy is expressing support for the sentence handed down on Tuesday.
The boy, who is not being publicly identified due to his age, faced up to 40 years in the May 2023 shooting death of Matthew Davis, 32.
After several hearings, a Johnson County judge sentenced the boy, now 13 years old, to 12 years in the Texas Juvenile Justice Division.
The boy’s aunt and uncle are also charged in the deadly encounter in the small community of Keene.
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Leigh Miller described the punishment as ‘fair,’ saying the boy’s uncle Angel Gomez was training the boy to fire a weapon.
“There were videos on Angel Gomez’s cell phone of him teaching him to show. [The boy] knew what to do. He shot 20 to 25 feet away in the dark,” she said.
According to charging documents, the incident began when a woman confronted Gomez after witnessing him start urinating in the restaurant’s parking lot.
When Gomez reportedly ignored the woman’s comment about a bathroom, Davis asked Gomez if he heard the woman, to which Gomez responded: “I don’t give a [expletive.]
‘What do you mean you don’t give a [expletive],’ asked Davis. ‘That’s so disrespectful.’
Gomez reportedly took his shirt off, confronted Davis, and the two began to fight.
The boy and his aunt were inside Gomez’s pickup truck when the men began fighting.
According to charging documents, Gomez’s wife, Ashley Marmolejo Gomez, 18, later admitted, ‘I reached under my seat, got my HK .22, handed it directly to [the boy], and said go. I meant for him to go out and stop the fight by scaring the guy.’
Authorities arrested Marmolejo Gomez during the shooter’s punishment phase, charging her with manslaughter.
“It’s disgusting,” said Miller of Marmolejo’s alleged actions. “I don’t know anyone on the face of the Earth that is normal and cares about a child that would hand a loaded weapon to somebody and say ‘go.’
Marmolejo, Miller learned during court hearings, reportedly said she drank an alcoholic beverage, so she did not want to get out of the truck to stop the fight.
The boy’s uncle is charged with tampering with evidence for his alleged actions following the shooting.
Miller believes he should face stiffer charges and that she should be charged with murder.
“It was his gun that was loaded. It was his gun that was unsecured in that truck,” she said.
Detectives retrieved a deleted message following the shooting of the boy stating: ‘So my uncle got into a fight right cs [sic] he was peeing, and someone got mad right and then my aunt gave me tha [sic] gun, and I was supposed to shoot tha [sic] tha ground and I in accident [sic] shot that person.’
“Could it have been more? Yes. But I’m ok,” she said. “I prayed and gave it to God because I couldn’t handle it anymore. I want him to have consequences for his actions. My son had consequences, and he dealt with them. He might be a child, but he still has consequences. He murdered my son.”
Miller says she is pleased the boy will get 'the help he needs' and be followed into his adult life.
Attorney Seth Fuller represented the young shooter and previously told NBC 5 that the middle schooler did not have previous run-ins with police, only minor infractions in school.
“The family code for juveniles this young is about rehabilitation, and I feel strongly that none of society would be served by putting this kid in the Texas Juvenile Justice Division,” said Fuller in early November.
During the sentencing phase, Fuller asked for the boy to be sentenced to probation with several requirements, believing he was the right candidate for rehabilitation.
Fuller spoke with NBC following the 12-year sentence.
“I do not believe this is helpful for anyone,” he said. “The scientific literature on incarcerating juveniles is very clear, and in this particular case, both the state’s witness and our witness, both psychologists, said that this young man is a very low risk of reoffending and a low need for services. He has no violent disposition no violent history. They had almost nothing but good things to say about him in regards to before this.”
Fuller says, at best, incarceration in this case does not help prevent recidivism, and at worst, it exposes the boy to potentially other ‘more criminally sophisticated’ minors who are violent.
“I do not believe this has made the community any safer,” he added.
Davis’ grieving mother met with NBC 5 Wednesday afternoon at a park near the Sonic where her son worked.
She wants people to know who her son is, describing their relationship as very close and him as ‘wise.’
“He loved this pond and the ducks because it reminded him of Louisiana,” she said. “He would write spoken word poetry.”
Davis leaves behind a young son.
The 32-year-old had noticeable tattoos on his face and body, but his mom says it was simply his way of telling his life story.
One tattoo represented his Muslim faith, and another the father who physically abused him when he was a child, she said.
“Because of his tattoos, there was a lot of judgment, and he knew that,” she said.
She remembers the difficulty he faced when looking for a job and how happy he was when Sonic gave him the opportunity.
Miller says her son had turned his life around after serving time behind bars and told her he wished he could help convicts get back on their feet.
At the time of his death, “He was happy,” she said. “Happier than he’d ever been, and now all we have left are his writings, his spoken word poetry.”
She has set up a GoFundMe account to help his young son with costs associated with loss of income and upcoming trials.
To help, click here.
Miller vows to see both of the pending cases and, in the long run, wants to seek stiffer penalties for gun owners whose weapons are used in a crime.
“If you haven’t reported [your gun] stolen to police and a crime is committed with that weapon, you should be charged just the same as that person,” she said.
In this case, that would mean a murder charge for Angel Gomez.
It is possible the teen shooter could be called to testify in his aunt and uncle’s court proceedings, according to Fuller. Still, the boy could ‘plead the fifth’ to prevent self-incriminating testimony.
While sentenced to 12 years, the state juvenile justice system will have the final say in how long the boy will serve.
The boy could be released from custody in as little as three years for good behavior, said Fuller, who cautioned he is an attorney and not part of the TJJD.
Otherwise, the boy would be in juvenile custody until around his 18th birthday, then turned over to the state’s adult prison system, where he would likely be paroled or serve his sentence until he is 25 years old.
