Terrell High School student killed in shooting, 16-year-old cousin charged with murder
TERRELL, Texas - Investigators in Terrell say a feud between family members led to the shooting death of a high school junior.
A 16-year-old is charged in the murder of his 17-year-old cousin. Terrell police say their families have been feuding for some time.
Terrell police received a call around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday of a non-responsive boy laying in a yard at the corner of Trailview and Town North Drive about one mile from Terrel High School.
Police say it was 17-year-old Damaria Jackson. He had been fatally shot.
Terrell Deputy Chief Arly Sansom says the victim and suspect were cousins.
"We have the correct suspect in custody. He is a juvenile, so we won’t be releasing more information about him because of his age. But he is a male, and he has been charged with murder," he said. "There’s apparently been a feud between these two families for quite some time. It seemed to have escalated recently in the last few days. Both parties had filed counter-complaints against each other for threats of violence. As a result, this incident happened today."
Police would not go into what the families were feuding about.
Neighbor Kourtney Radley used to attend Terrell High School. She says she knew of Jackson from seeing him in the hallways at school.
"I’ve seen him when I was there. I’ve seen him a few times," she said. "He was more of a quiet like to himself, type of person."
Sansom says a dad who dropped his son off at school found Jackson and called them.
"He took his son to school, came back. Thought that guy’s still laying there. It doesn’t look right. So he attempted to make contact and discovered that he was in medical distress when he called the police," he said.
Authorities say the armed suspect was seen on a home security camera in the neighborhood, helping them learn his identity.
They say the 16-year-old, who is not a Terrell ISD student, was interviewed at the police department, then arrested and charged.
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Police say there was never a threat to nearby Terrell High School.
"We were able to establish early on there wasn’t a specific threat to the school itself or to any of the other students. It was isolated," Sansom said.
But as a precaution, there was additional law enforcement on campus throughout the day.
There’s been a lot of support for Jackson’s family online. Terrell High School canceled its ‘Meet the Tigers’ event Tuesday evening after the shooting.
Correction: An earlier version of the story said the 16-year-old was a Terrell ISD student.