Angel Elizalde, 17, is suspected of shooting and murdering 16-year-old Jayden Solis on a Galena Park basketball court Sunday afternoon.
Adam Escalante, who describes himself as a close friend of Solis, was among the youths who gathered at the Alvin D. Baggett Community Center on Monday afternoon to mourn the deceased adolescent.
Escalante claims he and Solis were playing basketball when a group departed to play soccer on a neighboring field.
“I wish I had stayed,” he claimed, after hearing the gunshots and sprinting back to the basketball court. “I was simply praying that it wasn’t him. When I saw him on the floor, I immediately broke down in tears. It wounded me profoundly to see him like way. I never imagined I’d see him like that.”
Jennifer Hernandez, Escalantes’ mother, is concerned about the adolescents’ safety at Galena Park and wants police to enhance patrols.
“The city needs to have more police presence,” she remarked, wiping back tears. “That’s why all these things are going on.”
“I am really terrified. Lolita Dixon, another mother, expressed her fear, as well as her sympathy for the mother who lost her kid yesterday. “I think about my child.”
Prosecutors say three eyewitnesses identified Elizalde as the gunman, and there is security footage from the recreation center.
The defendant failed not show up for his initial court appearance on Monday afternoon. The magistrate judge stated that he was told Elizalde was becoming confrontational in jail.
The magistrate put the bail at $500,000.
A lady who identified herself as Elizaldes’ sister said she was aware of the allegations but had no knowledge of her brother’s detention.
