A 19-year-old woman was placed on five years of supervision after pleading guilty to a negligent fatal shooting death of a 14-year-old boy more than a year ago during a vehicle burglary spree.
Alyssa Gonzales, who has been out on bond since Dec. 6, 2023, appeared in the 137th District Court and pleaded guilty to a count of criminally negligent homicide in exchange for a five-year term of deffered adjudication.
Criminally negligent homicide is a state jail felony, which carries a punishment of 6 months to two years in a state jail facility.
Deferred adjudication is similar to probation in that defendants enter a plea of guilty in exchange for a term of community supervision.
However, their convictions will remain pending until they complete their terms of supervision, after which their case is dismissed and a conviction will not be entered.
If their community supervision is revoked, they face conviction and the full range of punishment.
Gonzales admitted to causing Zadrian Valdez’s Dec. 3, 2023 death by possessing in a vehicle without proper training an unsecured firearm, which discharged as she passed it around to other people.
Investigators believe the weapon was stolen by a group of teenagers, including Gonzales, during a a vehicle burglary spree, according to court documents.
Her charge stems from a Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit investigation that began about 2:10 a.m. when Lubbock police officers responded to University Medical Center, where Valdez was taken by private vehicle for a gunshot wound.
Valdez later died.
At the hospital, investigators spoke with the five teenagers Valdez was with that night and learned that they were driving around the city stealing property from unlocked vehicles.
Five people including two juveniles were arrested in connection with the investigation.
Gonzales was the only person charged in the fatal shooting.
She also was charged with a count of engaging in organized criminal activity, a third-degree felony, which was dismissed as part of her plea.
Angelina Estrada, 18, faces a count of engaging in organized criminal activity, and Dehvin Garcia, 19, faces a count of engaging in organized criminal activity while using/exhibiting a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony.
Their cases are still pending.
Meanwhile, a 16-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy face counts of theft of a firearm and engaging in organized criminal activity. The 13-year-old also faces a count of tampering with evidence.
Officials said their cases have been closed.
Investigators believe Garcia drove the group in a black Cadillac Escalade to multiple areas in the city and dropped them off to commit vehicle burglaries. He’d then fetch them and take them to another area, according to an arrest warrant.
One of the locations was the parking lot of an apartment complex at 3001 South Loop 289, where the teens reportedly stole two guns from an unlocked vehicle.
The teens reportedly told investigators that they passed around the firearms while they were riding in the Escalade in the area of 82nd Street and U.S. Highway 87.
Investigators obtained evidence that the teens were taking pictures and videos of them handling the firearms, the warrant states.
As Gonzales handled one of the guns, it discharged a round into the seat where Valdez sat, striking him.
Garcia drove them to the UMC Emergency room. However, the 13-year-old boy reportedly took the gun Gonzales handled and dumped it in the field next to the hospital, the warrant states.
Police officials said the firearm was recovered.
Gonzalez, Garcia and Estrada surrendered to police Dec. 5, 2023 and were booked into the Lubbock County Dentention Center where they were released on bond.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock woman, 19, pleads guilty in negligent shooting that killed 14-year-old boy
Reporting by Gabriel Monte, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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