Man charged with murder for shooting driver who hit, killed his sons
HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas man has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting at a crash scene of a suspected drunken driver who authorities say plowed into his sons as they helped push their family's broken-down pickup truck along a dark, narrow, rural road.
David Barajas, 31, and his sons, 12-year-old David Jr. and 11-year-old Caleb, were about 50 yards from their Houston-area home when a car crashed into them. David Jr. died at the scene, while Caleb died later at a hospital.
Neighbors said they heard gunshots minutes after the Dec. 7 crash near Alvin, about 30 miles southeast of Houston. Jose Banda, the 20-year-old driver who hit the boys, was later found shot in the head. His death was ruled a homicide.
Brazoria County sheriff's investigator Dominick Sanders said Monday that witnesses told authorities they saw Barajas, right after the crash, walk to his home and then return a few minutes later and approach Banda's vehicle. Evidence showed one shot was fired, he said.
"Every time we would pursue a lead, it always came back to Mr. Barajas," Sanders said. "We have numerous statements placing him there at the car in close proximity to the victim at the time the gunshot was fired."
Barajas was indicted for murder Friday and turned himself in Sunday. He was being held Monday in the Brazoria County Jail on a $450,000 bond. Court records did not list an attorney for him.
Gabriel Barajas, David Barajas' brother, had previously said his sibling had remembered the crash as a "blur" and called speculation that his brother or another family member might have been responsible for Banda's murder "ugly."
Barajas' wife, Cindy, was in the truck when it was hit, along with the couple's 8-year-old daughter and 3-month-old son.
A search of Barajas' home found ammunition that is consistent with the bullet that killed Banda, but authorities have not located the weapon used in the shooting, Sanders said. The case is "going to be much more difficult if we don't have a weapon," he added.
Gunshot residue tests were done on both Barajas and Banda, and authorities are still waiting for those results, Sanders said.
Investigators also are awaiting DNA test results of some "biological material" that was found at the scene. Sanders declined to elaborate on the material that is being tested.
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Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: www.twitter.com/juanlozano70 .
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
god help the jury that convicts this man....they might as well move to China....and SHAME ON THE DAs OFFICE THAT WOULD PROSECUTE THIS CASE.....HIS MOTHER MUST BE SO PROUD.....
Texas has the highest capital punishment rate in the country. At one time I read their prison system was executing 3 convicted murderers every week. Death sentence in Texas is common for taking another life.
With that knowledge it is hard to believe this man did not feel that justice would be served for his children's lives. Now he has to face that himself. Blind fury of anger and hurt can lead to disaster, bad judgement in the heat of pain and anger. Hope he has a understanding Judge and a really good attorney. On the flip side this will be another one of "those stories" used against gun ownership. I am not sure it is a good example? It would be more of an example of anger management than gun ownership, just my observation.
My heart goes out to his wife and 2 surviving children.
Just because the father has ammunition consistant with the bullet doesn't prove guilt.Â
 I'm thinking the 20 year old felt horrible about what he had done and committed suicide.Â
you got to say temporary insanity.if i just seen my kids killed from a drunk driver i cant say i would not do the same.not to say it is right but i hope he does not get much time
Definite repercussions to his act of justice. But I don't see him doing much time. The drunk idiot would have gotten fined, done a couple years and then been back out on the road on his way to kill more people. Who knows, maybe this shooter just saved the lives of a family of eight or a bus load of kids.
He'll take his lumps, but the death of a drunk who killed children gets zero sympathy from me.
All you liberal weenies can go soak your collective heads.
It would have been hard not to shoot the drunk driver if the shoe were on my foot. But things went from bad to worse. Temporary insanity? Instant PTSD? Hope he gets an understanding judge or jury.Â
Lost of predictable blood-thirsty rednecks in this thread. Thank goodness for the Rule of Law.
@iloveeugene name calling by liberals such a shame
@Baldr Odinson  ... You make me want to puke
What a horrible tragedy! Â Sadness, followed by more sadness. Â Now the wife, daughter, and toddler not only have lost the two boys, but will have to be without their dad, too, when he goes to prison. Â Violent, vindictive behavior, however understandable, is not the answer, particularly when mixed with lethal weapons.
Agreed! The last time one of my relative slandered my family and I, I used my fists, not a gun to teach them a lesson. Â Dead men don't learn anything.
Oh, look. It's Jason Kilgore of "Ceasefire" Oregon. Says Kilgore "It's a tragedy!" But what he really means is "yay! More blood to dance in. Another opportunity to try to take guns from law abiding citizens."
Grow up and use your real name Jason
@Sean Sorrentino Thanks Sean. I appreciate having that information!
@Baldr Odinson BLAH BLAH BLAH. Broken record....irritating and screeching.
@Baldr Odinson Leathal weapon...  so if he'd a picked up a brick or grabbed a tire iron it wouldn't be so bad... Â
Hope he uses a temporary insanity plea. He should get off but at the very least if he's convicted I hope the judge hands him the minimum sentence.Â
@Johnny 2 Thumbs discharging a firearm in a residential area... Works for me
Â
@Jeff Knopf .....I sense sarcasm in your statement. I wonder if you would be as sarcastic if some drunk just killed your kids.Â
Ah...I think you're right. My apologies all around. I guess I'm so used to trolls making comments I automatically took offense. Sorry Jeff! Thanks for setting me straight USaidWHAT.Â
@Johnny 2 Thumbs I think what Jeff is trying to say is if he gets charged hopefully it will be a lesser charge like, discharging a firearm in a residential area.
As sad as this story is it should hopefully remind people not to drink and drive. And if it had happened to me i'd shot the dumb drunk too. Alcohol should be banned for the good of all !!
 @IAMHIGH Tried that with Prohibition. All it did was make the Gangsters rich and did not stop the flow of booze. A better solution is smart cars that will not start when Alcohol is detected.
@catzmeow OKÂ and how many old cars will have to go back to school to become smart
how about just smarter people or we just kill the people who drive and kill !!
@catzmeow See that's where the problem started with the so called Authorities
if they would just mind their own business things would get done!!!
 @IAMHIGH  @catzmeow That's what this guy did. Somehow, Authorities think it's a bad idea.
He should get a free one here. Kill my boys in front of me, and I'l kill you back, quick. Prison would be no deterrent.Â
@XLRGÂ This long time ex-cop is with you, too. Â Intense provocation, temporary insanity, shock from being in accident, pms - what ever it takes.
@XLRGÂ Unfortunately we live in a land of liberal weenies that think the government is the answer to all of our ills, when in fact the government is the cause of most of them.