Three teenage suspects who planned a drive-by shooting motivated by a “juvenile feud” targeted the wrong house and killed a man they didn’t even know, according to North Richland Hills police.
As reported by Fort Worth Star-Telegram, officers arrested the three suspects this weekend in connection with the Wednesday night shooting that killed 52-year-old Brian Cason Pence.
Suspects Fired at Pence’s Home, Struck Him Through the Window as He Slept
The shooting occurred shortly before 11 p.m. on Nov. 27 in the 7300 block of Stonybrooke Drive. Police learned that a vehicle stopped in the street and the car’s occupants fired multiple rounds from handguns at the home.
One of the gunshots went through a window and hit Pence while he was sleeping in his bed, police said. Pence died after medics took him to John Peter Smith Hospital.
Early on Saturday morning, Nov. 30, North Richland Hills police detectives worked with Fort Worth police to coordinate the arrests of two of the murder suspects. The third suspect was arrested during a traffic stop on Sunday, Dec. 1.
“Tragically, the suspects had no connection to Mr. Pence,” police said in a statement. “Instead, these three individuals, who are not residents of North Richland Hills, entered the city intending to carry out a drive-by shooting stemming from what can only be described as a juvenile feud. However, they targeted the wrong address.”
Shooting Motivated by a ‘Young Teenage Fight’
“So when we say juvenile feud, a young teenage fight,” said North Richland Hills Police Officer Sarah Chilutti. “Nothing of substance and nothing that should have been taken to this level of violence.”
Police identified the suspects as 18-year-old Martin Mauricio Marquez Diaz, 19-year-old Anthony Zapata, and 17-year-old Alexander Ortega. They were booked into the Tarrant County Jail on Monday on capital murder charges. Investigators have not said which house the teens intended to target or what the alleged feud was about.
