Father charged with "headshot" killing of drunk driver that killed his 2 sons

[wirednuts]

"avenge" is the word you're looking for....but I doubt that is the first thing the one dying kid was hoping to see at the time.

i tend to think anyone driving drunk enough to plow into a barely moving vehicle is basically looking to murder someone. but you are correct. i wont argue.

 

[highland145]

Update:

No GSR on his hands. Bet he walks.

David Barajas denies killing a drunken driver in a fit of rage after his two sons were fatally struck in 2012 on a rural road in Southeast Texas. His defense attorney says Barajas is a good man, a grieving father and not a murderer. At the same time, his defense hasn't publicly suggested who else might be responsible for Jose Banda's shooting death.
Barajas' trial is set to begin Monday in a case with many complexities: No weapon was recovered, no witnesses identified him as the shooter and many in Barajas' community have strongly sympathized with him, with some saying they might have taken the law into their own hands if faced with a similar situation.
Legal experts acknowledge prosecutors could face a greater challenge than simply proving who committed the shooting, similar to another Texas case from 2012 in which a grand jury declined to indict a father who killed a man who molested his child.
"It's not the right way to do it, but jurors a lot of times make judgments based on moral responsibility, not legal responsibility," said Joel Androphy, a Houston defense attorney who isn't connected to the case.
The trial will focus on prosecutors' allegations that Barajas shot 20-year-old Banda in the head in December 2012 near Alvin, about 30 miles southeast of Houston. Minutes earlier, Banda's car struck Barajas' sons as they pushed the family's broken-down truck down a dark, narrow road just 50 yards from their home. David Jr., 12, died at the scene; 11-year-old Caleb died at a hospital.
If convicted of murder, Barajas faces up to life in prison.
Many in the community have rallied around the 32-year-old father, including setting up a Facebook page called "Free David Barajas," which details fundraising events and where individuals have expressed their support.
But Banda's family says their loved one's fate should have been decided by the justice system and no one else.
"What (Barajas) did wasn't right," said Felicia Leija, 22, Banda's common-law wife. The couple has a 2-year-old daughter, Alisa, who was born a few months before the crash. "For other people to say they would have done the same thing ... you don't know what you would have done."
Barajas' attorney, Sam Cammack, says claims that his client took the law into his own hands are untrue, noting that Barajas didn't even own a gun. Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne declined to comment.
Neighbors said they heard gunshots minutes after the crash, and authorities allege Barajas went home, retrieved a gun and went back to the crash site, where he shot Banda in the head.
Toxicology tests later determined Banda had been driving while intoxicated. But Brazoria County sheriff's investigator Dominick Sanders said that in the moments after the crash, there had been no way to know it was alcohol related.
Witnesses have identified Barajas as the person who approached the vehicle before the shooting, Sanders said. And other witnesses said there was a man opening fire but none could identify Barajas as that person. Investigators never found the weapon, and gunshot residue tests done on Barajas came back negative.
A search of Barajas' home found ammunition consistent with the bullet that killed Banda, but Sanders said the missing weapon could still make "a big difference in the case."
So could the perceived moral circumstances, which legal experts agree may influence jurors. In June 2012, a grand jury in Shiner decided not to charge a father who fatally beat a man who was found molesting his 5-year-old daughter behind a barn. In that case, the father called 911 afterward and urged paramedics to rush to the scene, shouting, "Come on! This guy is going to die on me!"
From a strictly legal perspective, experts say the Barajas case will be difficult to prosecute given the lack of hard evidence.
"The prosecutor is starting from behind the eight ball," Houston criminal defense attorney Grant Scheiner said.
Cammack would not speculate on who may have shot Banda.
"Mr. Banda lost his life out there at the scene that night, somehow," he said. "That is not a good thing. But to suggest Mr. Barajas has anything to do with it is a far stretch of the imagination."

 

[Jaskalas]

Where was the father after the shooting? Did he have time to dispose of the weapon? Seems really odd.

 

[olds]

This is why I'd make a great juror. I wouldn't convict the guy even if he did it. Some people just need killing.

 

[highland145]

Where was the father after the shooting? Did he have time to dispose of the weapon? Seems really odd.

That or someone did it for him. Interesting there was no GSR. "You just killed my 2 kids but I'm going to put on gloves before I shoot you." Wonder if it was a 3rd party or the wife.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

Sad story all around.

 

[z1ggy]

That or someone did it for him. Interesting there was no GSR. "You just killed my 2 kids but I'm going to put on gloves before I shoot you." Wonder if it was a 3rd party or the wife.

Could he have washed his hands well enough to remove most of it so a test would come back as negative?

 

[ThinClient]

Fuck drunk drivers. Especially the ones who are all like "oh, it's only a LITTLE drunk and I'm just around the corner from home, TEE HEE."

I hope they all die (and no one else).

 

[highland145]

Could he have washed his hands well enough to remove most of it so a test would come back as negative?

I "think " he could use vinegar (as long as he had proper ID) but 1) the cops would smell it and 2) he would have to think about it. His kids were just killed and he may have just killed someone. Don't think I would have the presence of mind to do so. Or the GSR test was misplaced/faked. Off to get tinfoil my hat.....

The wife did it, with a .38, on the side of the road.

 

[Scarpozzi]

This is why I'd make a great juror. I wouldn't convict the guy even if he did it. Some people just need killing.

Look at it from the side of the 20 year old's parents.... Both sides are tragic....

I certainly don't blame the guy for taking matters into his own hands either. Once he pulled the trigger and it was over....there was nothing to be done to save the 20 year old, I probably wouldn't convict him either. It's just important to deter wrongful killings from taking place in the future....the whole slippery slope thing applies.

 

[highland145]

Look at it from the side of the 20 year old's parents.... Both sides are tragic....

I certainly don't blame the guy for taking matters into his own hands either. Once he pulled the trigger and it was over....there was nothing to be done to save the 20 year old, I probably wouldn't convict him either. It's just important to deter wrongful killings from taking place in the future....the whole slippery slope thing applies.

But his parents could have been wealthy....affuenza defense.

 

[z1ggy]

I "think " he could use vinegar (as long as he had proper ID) but 1) the cops would smell it and 2) he would have to think about it. His kids were just killed and he may have just killed someone. Don't think I would have the presence of mind to do so. Or the GSR test was misplaced/faked. Off to get tinfoil my hat.....

The wife did it, with a .38, on the side of the road.

There's still a small chance he wore gloves maybe? But yeah in the heat of the moment, everything goes red and you're unlikely to think about how you could beat CSI.

 

[darkewaffle]

I would not be opposed to a drunk driver that kills someone getting the death sentence. But the father (assuming he did it) did not do the right thing either.

 

[ch33zw1z]

No GSR, no weapon, no witnesses to the shooting, very difficult to prosecute. My money is on him walking.

Oh, and fuck drunk drivers.

 

[ThinClient]

I would not be opposed to a drunk driver that kills someone getting the death sentence. But the father (assuming he did it) did not do the right thing either.

That's the problem. Killing the 2 kids wouldn't get him the death penalty. License revoked (maybe even temporarily?), maybe a few years in prison, then he's out again. It's so rare to see anyone get the death penalty anymore, and this fucking asshole drunk driver absolutely deserved it.

The father simply made sure that this shitbag never hurt anyone else again and made sure that this shitbag got the justice he deserved.

The father deserves a medal for defending his community.

 

[darkewaffle]

That's the problem. Killing the 2 kids wouldn't get him the death penalty. License revoked (maybe even temporarily?), maybe a few years in prison, then he's out again. It's so rare to see anyone get the death penalty anymore, and this fucking asshole drunk driver absolutely deserved it.

The father simply made sure that this shitbag never hurt anyone else again and made sure that this shitbag got the justice he deserved.

The father deserves a medal for defending his community.

Yeah, I think drunk drivers get off way too light. But that's the real solution to the problem imo - as unsatisfying as that might be to the dad here.

 

[ThinClient]

Yeah, I think drunk drivers get off way too light. But that's the real solution to the problem imo - as unsatisfying as that might be to the dad here.

What's the real solution to the problem? Incarceration?

bwuahahaha...

You don't truly believe that, do you?

 

[Krazy4Real]

That's the problem. Killing the 2 kids wouldn't get him the death penalty. License revoked (maybe even temporarily?), maybe a few years in prison, then he's out again. It's so rare to see anyone get the death penalty anymore, and this fucking asshole drunk driver absolutely deserved it.

The father simply made sure that this shitbag never hurt anyone else again and made sure that this shitbag got the justice he deserved.

The father deserves a medal for defending his community.

this

 

[PlanetJosh]

I simply love it when people think this man should not be prosecuted for it or if prosecuted to get probation. It's just that kind of attitude I hope for because it will lead to anarchy as a result of free wheeling vigilantism if authorities and the courts embrace it. Which is fine with me because I want to see civil war all across the U.S.

 

[smackababy]

I simply love it when people think this man should not be prosecuted for it or if prosecuted to get probation. It's just that kind of attitude I hope for because it will lead to anarchy as a result of free wheeling vigilantism. Which is fine with me because I want to see civil war all across the U.S.

The best part is silliness of this and the felony murder charges against Zimmerman. Man does something legal that results in the death of a guy: 'burn him at the stake!' Man does something incredibly illegal and kills two actually innocent kids: 'ha! You people saying the father shouldn't be convicted are stupid!'


Without a murder weapon and GSR, the entire case is circumstantial. There is no way a jury would convict the father. And "seeing the father in the area of the crash" is beyond stupid testimony for a witness. Of course he was in the area... He was involved in the fucking crash right outside his house!

 

[SunnyD]

But Banda's family says their loved one's fate should have been decided by the justice system and no one else.

Awwww, their son decided they he should take someone's life that day by getting behind the wheel drunk. (I firmly think that killing someone while drunk should be charged as 1st Degree Murder - it's premeditated, you're going somewhere with the intention of getting drunk whether you know the person you kill or not). So someone just did the state of Texas a favor by expediting execution and they're pissed about it because their kid didn't walk.

I simply love it when people think this man should not be prosecuted for it or if prosecuted to get probation. It's just that kind of attitude I hope for because it will lead to anarchy as a result of free wheeling vigilantism if authorities and the courts embrace it. Which is fine with me because I want to see civil war all across the U.S.

We haven't had a good war to cull the population in a while. Diseases are starting to get a little more virulent by our own doing, which is probably a long term bad thing, but wars are what keep the human population in check. We may as well start small with something like this...

 

[smackababy]

^I wouldn't see first degree sticking. Felony murder though, I could get behind that. This "intoxicated manslaughter" bullshit is just that: bullshit. You know damn well you are intoxicated and shouldn't be driving. You made a choice to break the law and that choice resulted in the death of someone. 25 to life. We need to boost up the prison population anyway, we won't be getting nearly as many drug offenders in there now.

 

[SP33Demon]

He made sure the drunk had passed out, permanently. No problem with this since that is the goal of drunks anyway (to pass out).

 

[Kaido]

Especially the ones who are all like "oh, it's only a LITTLE drunk and I'm just around the corner from home, TEE HEE."

I hope they all die (and no one else).

Some high school kids were drunk-driving in my area a few years ago. Like 100 MPH in the rain or something crazy. Killed themselves & a local programmer in an accident. So we lost 4 people, plus some little kids lost their dad. Terrible.

 

[Humpy]

This is why I'd make a great juror. I wouldn't convict the guy even if he did it. Some people just need killing.

You would make the worst juror. A simpleton unable to think rationally because he is overwhelmed by emotion. Like the murderous father in this case, or the looting, vandalizing thugs in other news, this type of savage, irrational behavior has no place in society.

Barajas placed his children in imminent danger by forcing them to push a vehicle down a dark country road. No flares, reflectors, or hi visibility clothing were utilized. Then, with complete premeditation, Barajas murders a person who unintentionally crashes into the children. Barajas subsequently disposes of the murder weapon and other evidence. It was Barajas poor decisions that directly led to the death of three people. He is a monster and deserves nothing less than the death penalty.