Murder weapon seized in Seguin
(Nixon) – The murder weapon allegedly used by a then 7-year-old boy two years ago in the murder of a Nixon man has been located in a Seguin pawn shop.
Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office investigators say they have spent the past few days uncovering all the details behind the murder incident that begin on Jan. 18, 2022 when deputies responded to the Lazy J RV Park in Nixon and found the victim Brandon Rasberry, 32, dead inside his RV.
Rasberry is said to have died from a single shot to the head. After all possible leads were exhausted two years, officials say the case was revisited on Friday, April 12 after the sheriff’s office received a phone call from the principal at a Nixon Smiley ISD campus who reported that a 10-year-old male student had threatened to assault and kill another student on a bus the night before.
When deputies were conducting a threat assessment on the student, that’s when they said the 10-year-old child described in detail that two years ago he shot and killed a man in a trailer in Nixon, Texas.
Investigators say the child stated he was visiting his grandfather at his house in the same RV park on the afternoon of Sunday Jan. 16th, 2022.
The ten-year-old stated he obtained a pistol from the glove box of his grandfather’s truck. The child described the pistol as a 9-millimeter pistol “dirt and army green” in color.
The child informed investigators he then entered the RV belonging to Rasberry. The child stated he observed Brandon sleeping in his bed and approached him and discharged the firearm striking him one time in the head. The child stated as he was leaving the RV he discharged the firearm another time into the couch inside the RV. The child then allegedly exited the RV and returned the firearm to the glovebox of the truck.
When asked, the child stated he had never met Rasberry but only once earlier in the day walking around.
The child also answered ‘no’ when asked if he was mad at Rasberry or if the victim had ever done anything to him.
On Friday, April 12th, investigators were able to locate the firearm that was used to murder the man at a pawn shop in Seguin and secured the firearm as evidence. Investigators say the child also confirmed during the interview that the gun had been pawned by his grandfather.
Further investigation confirmed that the firearm seized as evidence here in Seguin was the firearm that was used to commit the murder.
The child was immediately transported to a psychiatric hospital in San Antonio for evaluation and treatment. Upon being released from the hospital, the child was transported from San Antonio to the Gonzales County Sheriff’s Office where he was booked on charges relating to the school bus incident for Terroristic Threat. The child was then placed in detention by the Gonzales County Juvenile Probation. He currently is awaiting a court date.
Because of the child’s age, Texas Penal Code 8.07 states that a child does not have criminal culpability until they reach the age of 10-years old. At the time of the murder, the juvenile suspect was seven years old, one week shy of his 8th birthday. Therefore, charges for murder will not be filed and cannot be accepted by the Gonzales County Attorney’s Office for consideration of prosecution in accordance with state law.