Two Texas brothers died within 12 hours of each other after being gunned down while backing up their car, allegedly by their neighbor – who has been described as a “ticking timebomb” by cops.
Dravyn Quiroz, 20, and his 11-year-old brother Maliki Perales died last Tuesday after being caught up in the seemingly random attack in a neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas, NBC affiliate WOAI reported.
Daniel Antonio Perez, 40, allegedly started firing at the brothers after one of them spotted a man staring. This was despite the fact there had been no previous history of any disputes.
Quiroz was backing up a car in their driveway and his younger brother went outside before they were shot at.
“I hear pops, my wife starts screaming,” the brothers’ dad Andrew Perales told KSAT.
“I got my gun, came down.”
Andrew Perales said he tripped over one of his sons on the ground as the chaos unfolded.
“The guy was across the street reloading, starting to shoot again,” he said.
The younger Perales, who was set to start middle school, died just before 8:50 p.m., one hour and 20 minutes after shots were fired.
The student was carried to a Dollar General store by his dad around a quarter of a mile away before being rushed to a hospital.
Perales’ older brother Quiroz died around 12 hours later.
Alleged gunman Perez tried to flee the scene after the shooting but was arrested around 10 minutes later.
He has since been charged with capital murder, meaning he could face the death penalty if convicted in accordance with Texas law.
“It’s an extremely unfortunate situation for the family that just simply fell victim to this guy,” Javier Salazar, the Bexar County Sheriff, said.
“Unbeknownst to them, they had what I would believe and categorize as a ticking time bomb right across the street from them.
“For whatever reason, he came across the street and began firing upon two young men that were in front of their family residence across the street.
“No reason to believe that at this point, no apparent provocation of any sort.”
Perez’s family told investigators he had experienced mental health episodes in the past but never reported them to the authorities, according to the cop.
The suspect suffered from depression and was “seeing things that were not there,” Salazar said.
Investigators found his gun from a nearby drainage culvert, the cop revealed.
Salazar also revealed that Perez “shot at two other siblings of this family that were at or near the front door of the residence.”
“Thankfully, [he] missed,” the cop said.
Perales has since paid tribute to his sons, describing them as “fighters.”
“I raised them right. They had good morals. They had good values,” he said.
Quiroz was killed just months on from undergoing surgeries for pancreatitis and diabetic ketoacidosis.
“Before the DKA … he was just a normal kid trying to get his life together,” Perales said, speaking of his late son.
Perez was also charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon – on top of the capital murder charges.
He is set to appear in court in November.
Meanwhile hundreds of mourners attended a vigil Saturday in memory of the brothers.
