The two-year-old cold case of an RVer shot to death in Texas has been solved. In a shocking chapter, a 10-year-old boy says he killed Brandon O’Quinn Rasberry in the Lazy J RV Park in Nixon, Texas, in 2022. The young shooter will not be charged with murder under Texas law.
Case breaks—in heartbreaking way
Back in January 2022, Brandon Rasberry’s employer became concerned when Brandon didn’t show up for work for two days. The employer phoned the RV park owner, who, on checking in Rasberry’s rig, found the 32-year-old dead inside. Law enforcement officials say the young man was shot in the head.
The case languished with little to go on. A year after the murder, the Gonzales County Sheriff’s office was still putting out requests for the public to help solve the case. “Any clue, no matter how small could help,” was the plea. A year later, the break came, in a heartbreaking way.
Earlier this month, the sheriff’s office got a phone call from the local school district. An official reported that a 10-year-old boy on a school bus threatened to kill a fellow student. The district performed a “threat assessment” on the boy, and during their conversations with him, he told them he’d killed a man two years earlier. Law enforcement said the boy provided great detail of how he’d killed a man in a travel trailer in Nixon.
Wasn’t “mad” at Rasberry—hadn’t even met him
What had happened to cause the then-7-year-old to kill Brandon Rasberry? The boy told investigators he’d seen Rasberry walking around in the RV park earlier in the day of the murder. He said he wasn’t “mad” at the man, nor had he ever even met him. But the boy told investigators that he had his grandfather’s “dirt and army green”-colored pistol, which he’d found in his grandfather’s truck glove box.
The boy said he went into Rasberry’s rig and found the man sleeping. He walked over to the man, then pulled the trigger, fatally shooting him in the head. The boy said he then fired the gun one more time into the couch. After that, he put the gun back in his grandfather’s truck. He told police his grandfather later pawned the gun. Investigators checked out the story, and found the pawned gun. It was subsequently tested and proved to be the murder weapon.
The boy was eventually taken to a psychiatric hospital in San Antonio for evaluation and treatment. On release from the hospital, the boy was booked—not for Rasberry’s murder, but for “Terroristic Threat” in connection with the school bus incident. As to the incident of the RVer shot to death, Texas law says a child has no criminal culpability until they reach age 10.
Victim’s father’s reaction—not one seeking vengeance
One can only imagine the feelings of Brandon O’Quinn Rasberry’s family. After agonizing for two years, waiting for some closure, Brandon’s father had this to say. “I was shocked, very shocked,” said Kenneth Rasberry. He told ksat.com, “This isn’t anywhere the suspect that we thought it was.”
“This is a little boy, for reasons that I’m sure these counselors and case managers and all of that, that’s going to pick that poor little boy’s brain apart,” he said about the child. The elder Rasberry expressed no feelings toward vengeance. “He needs to be prayed on. He needs to be comforted…. He’s forgiven. And he can still be saved. He’s so young. He’s definitely tormented by something,” Kenneth Rasberry said.
At the same time, a family started an online petition to increase awareness and change to Texas law when it comes to juveniles and justice. The petition cites the American Psychological Association, saying, “By age 7, most children can distinguish right from wrong and understand consequences.”
“We urge lawmakers in Texas to reconsider and amend Penal Code Section 8:07. We need legislation that balances the need for juvenile rehabilitation with ensuring justice is served for victims and their families,” the petition reads. “Please sign this petition if you believe in fair justice for all victims, regardless of their perpetrator’s age.”
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Sad story for sure. But committing adult crimes cannot be swept under the rug because of age. I’m not sure what kind of punishment should be administered, but doing nothing is unacceptable.
That mirrors my thoughts as well…
Same here. No consequences teaches this young person it is OK to do things like this.
I would want this young man watched over very carefully. He could just as easily do something like this again. He already made threats.
Grandfathers gun unlocked in a glove box, then pawned? There’s the adult to blame or prosecute it’s done everywhere else. This is still a tragic story very.
Thank you, Russ and Tina! 🙂 I am thankful that the victim’s family learned what happened to their son. The rest of the story is incredible. I will keep the rest of my opinion to myself, but this is outrageous, sad, and … [words fail me]. 🤔😯🙁 🙁 Thank you for sharing this and safe travels! 🙂
Lock it up. Simple enough.
I feel we need an actual age where a child is considered an adult. It is 18 for some things, 21 for others but can be as young as 12 for prosecuting as an adult. Either they have the capacity to make adult decisions or they don’t.
Why wasn’t the grandfather arrested? Leaving his gun available, and loaded contributed to the murder. I was glad to see the parents who bought the school shooter a gun were imprisoned.
Lock up the grandfather for endangering the public with his gun just stored in the glovebox. It needs to be secure even people in TX should know better.