A
very sad local story raises a troubling question:
An Alvin father remained in the Brazoria County Jail Monday, charged
with murder in the alleged revenge killing of a drunk driver who plowed
into his truck, killing his two young sons last December. David Barajas Sr., 31, a construction worker, is being held in lieu of $450,000 bail in the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Jose Inez Banda minutes after the Dec. 7 crash that claimed the lives of Barajas' 11- and 12-year-old sons.
"The whole incident is extremely tragic," said Brazoria County sheriff's lead investigator, Dominick Sanders. "The grand jury reviewed it and has indicted him for murder."
Tests showed Banda's blood alcohol was twice the legal limit when his
Chevrolet Malibu rear-ended the Barajas' family's Ford 250 truck that
had run out of gas on an unlit county road near Alvin, investigators
said. The inebriated driver failed to swerve or even apply his brakes
before plowing into the truck and crushing Barajas' sons, David Jr., 12,
and Caleb, 11.
I was surprised to read that he was indicted for muder considering the circumstances until I read this:
During a two-month investigation, authorities located a witness who
reported seeing David Barajas walk from the crash scene to his nearby
home and return to Banda's car, after which the witness heard gunshots.
He - allegedly - walked home, got a gun and killed the driver. That makes this less a crime of passion than a
premeditated act .... but still. So if you were on the jury, how would you rule?
