Houston man charged with murder in shooting of 11-year-old boy after doorbell prank

Houston police charged 42-year-old Leon Gonzalo Jr. with the murder of 11-year-old Julian Guzman, who was ringing doorbells as a prank known as “ding dong ditching.”

Police have charged a Houston man with murder in the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old boy who rang the doorbell of a home and ran away as a prank, police said Tuesday.

The 42-year-old man was taken into custody and booked into the Harris County Jail in Houston early Tuesday morning.

Court records did not list an attorney for the man to comment on the allegations.

The boy, identified by police Tuesday as Julian Guzman, had been ringing doorbells as a prank late Saturday, according to Houston police. Commonly referred to as “ding dong ditching,” the prank involves fleeing before someone inside the home opens the door.

The boy died of his wounds Sunday, police said.

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.