Teen charged with killing 11-year-old who went outside to get jacket, Texas cops say

A 19-year-old has been charged in the fatal shooting of an 11-year-old boy outside a Houston apartment complex, Texas officials say.

Darius “DJ” Dugas II was caught in the crossfire of a shooting involving Daveyonne Howard on Feb. 3, according to media reports.

Howard was found breaking into a car and was chased by the car owner, when the 19-year-old began shooting, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said. DJ was struck during Howard’s barrage of gunfire, according to the sheriff.

DJ had just gone outside to retrieve his jacket from his family’s car, KRIV reported. Relatives heard the gunshots and found the boy shot several times, the TV station said.

“All I know is, for a strong 10 seconds my baby feared for his life before he lost it,” his mother, Brenetta Francis, told KTRK. “I was upstairs, along with his big brother and big sister, and there was nothing we could do about it.”

“He was not going across the street. He was not wandering. He was going to the car where he should have felt safe,” she added to KPRC.

He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to media reports.

The boy’s father, Darius Dugas Sr., said his son was “at the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“I don’t know how to feel man. I can’t describe it, and you just try to be strong because I know he would want me to be strong,” Darius Dugas Sr. told KTRK. “He was an awesome kid. ... It’s hard to make sense of it.”

Howard’s arrest coincides with the boy’s funeral on Friday, Feb. 18, in Houston.

An obituary for DJ states he was an honor-roll student at Cobb Sixth Grade Campus and involved in several extracurricular activities, including band and basketball.

“If he wasn’t enjoying basketball, he played Fortnite or joked with family and friends,” the obituary says. “Darius II was also a Tik Tok fanatic, and he had all the moves as he loved to dance.”

A KHOU reporter at DJ’s funeral on Friday said his family was “beyond grateful” Howard was arrested.

Howard has an “extensive criminal history,” according to Gonzalez. He was out on bond on a charge of aggravated robbery when DJ was killed, the sheriff said.

This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 3:35 PM with the headline "Teen charged with killing 11-year-old who went outside to get jacket, Texas cops say."