Shooting victim’s family wants someone held accountable for his 2022 death

Family members of Brandon O’Quinn Rasberry gathered together in Old Davy, near Yorktown, this past weekend for the first time since learning his 2022 shooting death was at the hands of a child who didn’t even know him.

His mother, Charlene Hadley; brother and sister-in-law, Jonathan and Emily Fojtik; grandmother Pam Mueller and aunt Laura Fontenot spoke exclusively with the Gonzales Inquirer by phone about their desire to see someone held accountable for Brandon’s death and that state and/or federal laws be changed to take into account juvenile offenders who commit horrific acts of violence.

They especially wanted to also send a message of love and support to a Nixon-Smiley CISD student who was threatened while riding the bus by the same now 10-year-old male who killed Brandon.

That one act — not letting bullying behavior stand — eventually led investigators to solve the two-year-old homicide case when the suspect admitted under questioning his involvement in Brandon’s death.

“Our family wants to send prayers to the family of the child that was threatened,” Fontenot said. “Hold your child tight, because our family lost our loved one to a senseless act and we can’t hold him again. This child is our hero for speaking out and speaking up.”

They also allowed — with his mother’s blessing — Brandon’s eldest son, Tyler, the opportunity to speak on the record for the first time about his father.

“I didn't really get to see him as much as I’d like growing up, but he would act goofy sometimes,” Tyler said. “He always liked to be funny and to see people smile.”

Tyler, who turns 14 on May 21 and is currently a junior high student, remembered riding on a tractor with his father, fishing, going to McDonald’s and — importantly — how his father made sure to teach him right from wrong.

Tyler admits he was pretty angry when he found out it was a child who took his father’s life, but then displayed remarkable maturity in discussing the situation.

“I wish (the juvenile suspect) the best and I hope he gets the help he needs,” Tyler said. “I don't want him to get out of jail and do something like this again. I really hope he gets the help he needs, but I also want to see someone held accountable.”

His brother, Bradley, 11, is still processing his emotions about the news — especially that a boy who is only a year younger than him committed the crime. His family call Bradley “the quiet one” and say he is the “spitting image” of his father, Brandon.

They are also having a hard time dealing with the fact that a young man not only admitted to killing Brandon, but admitted he didn’t even know their loved one and had no animosity towards him; he was just the unfortunate person who the boy chose as his target.

“I have a granddaughter that's seven right now and I can’t imagine her ever doing something like this,” Hadley said. “And now his seven-year-old niece will not grow up to ever remember her Uncle B.”

The way Texas state law is written, unfortunately, the juvenile suspect cannot be charged under the Texas Penal Code 8.07 for murder because he was under the age of 10 at the time he committed the atrocious act. He is currently being held by the Gonzales Juvenile Probation Department on a charge of terroristic threat for his actions on the school bus that eventually led to his apprehension.

“Our emotions are still out there, the way we feel,” Fontenot added. “Our two agendas are to change a law in B’s name and for someone to be held accountable.”

“We’d like to see this prevented from happening again to anyone ever,” Jonathan Fojtik said. “If a juvenile offender commits a violent crime, they should be able to be tried the same as an adult.”

“And let it be called Brandon O’Quinn Rasberry’s law,” Fontenot added.

The family members believe there must be some accountability for the fact that the juvenile  — who was just a week shy of eight at the time — was able to easily go to glove compartment of his grandfather’s truck on Jan. 16, 2022, take out a loaded gun, go into Brandon’s RV, shoot him while he was sleeping, fire off another shot into the couch and casually put the gun back into the truck without anything to impede him from doing so.

“I feel like there was very much negligence on the way the weapon was stored and the acknowledgement of it being in a vehicle within a child’s reach, loaded, no gun trigger lock on there,” Jonathan Fojtik said. “I feel like that was a bad part on the grandfather for himself.

“If that was taken care of properly, it would have been harder for this boy to act out on whatever wishes he was choosing to do or his curiosity or anything of that nature. If that gun was in the proper state, where it should have been, this child would not have had the opportunity to do what he did with it. I personally feel like yes, the grandfather should have had some sort of accountability for that.”

“He had easy access to it,” Hadley added. He knew it was in his grandfather’s truck. He knew where it was. He had seen it there and he took the opportunity to get it and put it back.

“I want to see justice because my son has two boys of his own that deserve to have this law passed, as well as any future children in America. I mean, all you see nowadays is killings online and in the news. Some of the people who do it are older, but some are very young.”

Family members said they are looking for any attorney who would be willing to help take up the case pro bono to help represent them in court and to push for a change in law.

“The two or three attorneys we’ve reached out to want more money than any of us could ever get together,” Fontenot said. “We don’t understand why do you want all that money from us if you’re going to get all of this attention on the news and free publicity that would help you too?”

“This is Brandon's family right here,” Jonathan Fojtik said. “We are his voice. We have always been in his life from day one and we always will be in his life.”

Jonathan spoke lovingly of his brother as “the type of person that could come into the room and make friends with anybody.”

“He was silly. He was goofy,” Fojtik said. “He had a great time with everybody. You would never hear anything negative about Brandon; it was always positive. He was the type of person that will give the shirt off his back for you and would go out of his way to make sure you were okay. He just truly a loving person.”

Brandon loved country music and “a little Jelly Roll, too.” He also loved to shoot pool and enter tournaments — not always placing, but always having a good time.

Right before moving to Nixon, he was living with his mother near Yorktown, Hadley said.

“He was living with me and his buddy that was working with him told him about this place, the Lazy J RV Ranch. And he ended up moving out there closer for work,” Hadley said. “I had seen him that Friday night because he dropped my car off. He was heading home and that’s the last time I had seen him.”

“I talked to him eight days before (he was killed). It was my birthday and I had brought some of my mom's belongings going to storage down and he helped me unload them and that’s the last time I talked to him,” Fontenot said.

“I lost my coffee maker,” Mueller said. “He always knocked on my door to tell me the coffee was made. And I asked him, ‘Would it be strong? He said, ‘Yes. It's strong enough for me to walk to New York.’ I said, ‘How would I get back?’ and he would say, ‘Grandma, I'll go get you.’”