The suspect who allegedly shot and killed an 11-year-old boy in a road rage incident in Nevada said he “didn’t know there was a child in the back seat of the car” when he opened fire, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by ABC News.
According to the Henderson Police Department, Tyler Matthew Johns, 22, was arrested Friday and charged with open murder, which is defined as first-degree murder and other crimes, and discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle.
In court Tuesday, a judge ruled that Johns will be held without bail on one count of first-degree murder.
Henderson Police Department – PHOTO: Booking photo by Tyler Matthew Johns.
“The court, frankly, could not emphasize enough the danger because this was a stranger and he was among other citizens of Henderson. The idea that this kind of behavior stands on its own is incredibly dangerous,” Judge Barbara Schifalacqua said during Tuesday’s hearing.
The incident happened around 7:30 a.m. Friday when two vehicles in traffic began “playing for position, trying to pass each other on the dry highway,” police said at a press conference on Friday.
One of the vehicles was trying to pass on the shoulder of the freeway when the two drivers rolled down their windows and began arguing, police said.
Johns, who was driving a four-door sedan, allegedly fired one shot from a handgun into a hybrid SUV driven by the victim’s stepfather, identified as Valente Ayala, hitting an 11-year-old in the back seat, police said.
KTNV – PHOTO: Tyler Matthew Johns appeared in a Nevada court where he was denied bail.
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Authorities said the boy, identified as Brandon Dominguez-Chavarria, was on his way to school.
After the child was shot, Ayala rammed the suspect’s car to prevent him from fleeing the scene, causing the two to stop in the middle of the highway, authorities said.
Both drivers got out of their vehicles and began a heated exchange as a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer drove by, officials said.
During that argument, two witnesses intervened between the two men and Ayala yelled that the suspect had killed his son, according to an arrest affidavit.
KTNV – PHOTO: An 11-year-old was killed Friday in a road rage incident in Henderson, Nevada, after two drivers intervened in a heated exchange, local police said.
Witnesses opened the rear driver’s side passenger door and “observed a juvenile male slumped over in the seat with profuse blood coming from his head or surrounding area,” according to the arrest affidavit.
Johns “spontaneously admitted to officers that he discharged the firearm” and stated that he “didn’t know there was a child in the back,” according to the arrest affidavit.
He then “turned around and, without prompting from officers, placed his hands behind his back and appeared to allow them to place handcuffs on his wrists,” the arrest affidavit said.
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The Henderson Fire Department arrived on the scene shortly after the suspect was taken into custody and took the child to a local hospital, but “despite their best efforts,” the child died from his injuries, police said. The cause of the boy’s death was a gunshot wound to the head, the Clark County Coroner said Monday.
“We lost a life today that shouldn’t have been lost,” Henderson Police Department Chief Reggie Rader said at a news conference last week.
Ayala told officers he believed the suspect “intended to shoot him, but given the speed they were going,” the bullet hit the child, according to the arrest affidavit.
Ayala was not armed and had no firearms during the road rage incident, the arrest affidavit said.
KTNV – PHOTO: An 11-year-old was killed Friday in a road rage incident in Henderson, Nevada, after two drivers intervened in a heated exchange, local police said.
During his court appearance Tuesday, Johns’ attorney argued that Ayala’s reckless driving prompted Johns to raise his gun, saying the suspect did not intend to shoot but was trying to “dissuade the other driver from pulling away.”
He confirmed that Johns did not know there was a child in the car because the stepfather “was driving exactly that way”.
“I think it would be reasonable for someone to say to themselves at 7:30 in the morning that they would believe that a child would be in the back seat of a car when they have a stepfather who drives just like that,” the defense attorney argued.
KTNV – PHOTO: Rubi Chavarria, the mother of 11-year-old Brandon Dominguez-Chavarria, speaks in court as she asks the court to deny bail to Tyler Matthew Johns.
The victim’s mother, Rubi Chavarria, asked that the suspect be held without bail, saying her “son’s life was taken whether you saw him or not.”
“He shouldn’t be out on the streets after what he’s done,” said the boy’s mother, fighting back tears. “Road rage doesn’t give you the right to shoot someone, even if you didn’t see the child in the back.”
“What if he does this to someone else? Nobody deserves to go through what I’m going through,” added the boy’s mother.
Johns’ next hearing is scheduled for Dec. 4.
ABC News’ Alex Stone and Tristan Maglunog contributed to this report.