Trinity County man indicted for murder in shooting over alligator

An 18-year-old Trinity County man has been indicted on a murder charge in the death of an Onalaska woman hit by a stray bullet in a shooting rampage over a pet alligator, the prosecution said Friday.

[Serena Clay]

This 18yr. old boy whom tookmy mom's life, has destroyed her husband, myself, and her grandchildren's life. Why couldn't he have settled this argument like a "man",instead of taking innocent victims like my mother, who was so full of life and love. I miss her each and every day and hope that justice will be served.

[SOS]

Serena I am so sorry for your loss. Senseless killings are a tragedy whether they are people, animals or plants. I know your mother will be greatly missed by all who loved her. Where did this happen and when?

[Biggy Dawggy]

For some reason the newspapers website isnt showing the story.

I too am sorry for your loss. Hopefully our great state will make an example out of him now that he is a adult. The Death House in Huntsville appears to be what he needs.

[Sad]

I too am sorry about you lossing your MOM , It was an accident this was not intended for your MOTHER I know it had nothing to do with her . The young man is in prison it was not a fare trial but it is over for now alot of people involded should be ashamed of their actions , I can tell you they are not. SERENA , all you can do now is try to get your life on the right track . Again ,I am sorry for your lose

[michael]

Sad wrote:

I too am sorry about you lossing your MOM , It was an accident this was not intended for your MOTHER I know it had nothing to do with her . The young man is in prison it was not a fare trial but it is over for now alot of people involded should be ashamed of their actions , I can tell you they are not. SERENA , all you can do now is try to get your life on the right track . Again ,I am sorry for your lose

The bullet may have not been intended for her, but the act of firing the gun with disregard for human safty, was very much intentional and therfor not an accident. This crime was carefully investigated and prosecuted, he recived exactly what he deserved. I

[Sad]

Don't speak of what he deserved, because,he didn't have supervision #1.From parents or anyone else.Speaking of the father or step-mother that seems to be afraid of him anyway. A lot of people lost out on this, I am sorry.

[Jim]

Why wasn't anything done to the actual owner of the weapon!?! This would have never happened if the owner of the weapon would have been intelligent enough to have put a $5 trigger-lock on his weapon and had his ammunition secured like REAL responsible citizens should! ESPECIALLY with kids around, now thats insane!! How does this person get off so easily and not held accountable for what HIS weapon did? That too is a crime and should be persued. If nothing else in civil court. We gun owners MUST be responsible for our weapons AND ammunition at ALL times!!!

[pkat]

Thats right, Jim. Like you said, Five dollars could have prevented this...

[Gnacake]

Doesn't the S.O. still give away the trigger locks for FREE?

[Debbie]

ok i am sorry for your loss but this seems to be a mistake that this boy did ....and what was he supposed to do let the alliagtor kill him....where were the parants and why was he alloud access to a gun in the first place...and a pet alliagtor fairdinkum mate what were the parants thinking allowin that

[Jon]

Sad wrote:

I too am sorry about you lossing your MOM , It was an accident this was not intended for your MOTHER I know it had nothing to do with her . The young man is in prison it was not a fare trial but it is over for now alot of people involded should be ashamed of their actions , I can tell you they are not. SERENA , all you can do now is try to get your life on the right track . Again ,I am sorry for your lose

This was no accident and you know it. This 18 year old kid was shooting at another kid that he thought was going to hurt his pet alligator. First of all he was 18 when this happened so gun locks or his parents could not keep him from the gun. This kid new exactly what he was doing. So for those who feel sorry for him can stop now. The little bastard should be sent to death row. This little bastard shot over 50 times at a house full of people and several stray bullets struck a bar about 100 yard up the hill, killing a women inside. He intended to kill someone plain and simple. He recieved a fair trial and was found guilty, the only thing unfair about this trail is the bastard should be sentenced to death. The only people who should be ashamed of their actions is the little bastard himself and his stupid mother who keeps defending him with lies.

[Texian]

Jon, I wasn't there so I cannot say what could or couldn't have happened, I know however that it does take a key and one must be in possession of a key to unlock a lock and unless the weapon was his, which I'm told it wasn't by some of the jurors themselves, he shouldn't have been able to have used that weapon to commit this attrocity and the negligent gun owner should ALSO be held accountable.
My point is ... that a TRULY responsible gun owner knows if his weapons are secure or not, that is a basic elemental resposibility that has been forgotten, overlooked and just outright ignored! You should NOT even be allowed to buy a firearm without having to buy a 'keyed' trigger-lock for it. ALL of us gun-owners should just step back and think just how powerful these weapons we own really can be and this power can't just lay around waiting for the innocent to be victmized by it.
Remember it is tragedys like this one that fuel the radical leftists into wanting to take them away from us, WE MUST take personal responsibility before it is too late!
Most aren't aware that as we speak, the Feds are systematically shutting down gun dealers nationwide for ANYthing they find wrong in their paperwork, including the simplest of errors, like punctuation and spelling, check it out for yourself its a nightmare in the making and most everyone is still asleep on this one. The leftists couldn't rewrite the 2nd Amendment, so they are going after the literal sources and doing away with them, so far they are having nightmarish success using this method and it too must be stopped before it is too late.
Thanks for the input and info.

[dilligaf]

Kids can be so young and Dumb. Kids sometimes do not think before they act. I am not defending him, but we all have kids. My guns are locked in a safe, but I'm sure my child could probably figure out that the key is on my keyring. This very young man did not have much supervision while growing up. Also some of his friends were bad influences. Sure he is paying for what he has done, at a big price for his parents and family and for the ones whom loved the wonderful lady that he shot. some may think the punishment does not meet the crime. If it were my loved one i can't say how i would feel. Prison is not a fun place to be. So he is being punished. Those of us that work in the prison facility know all to well what goes on in there. It is no party!!
God bless all of you. Forgiveness goes a long way.

[michael]

Sad wrote:

Don't speak of what he deserved, because,he didn't have supervision #1.From parents or anyone else.Speaking of the father or step-mother that seems to be afraid of him anyway. A lot of people lost out on this, I am sorry.

It dont take supervision for an 18 year old to know right from wrong. This is one of several problems with this country, people making excusses for others actions. Be acccountable for your own actions.

[Biggy Dawggy]

Just FYI, in the State of Texas, 18yrs old is considered "adult", not "kid". If the "kid" part was still true, he would be in TYC, not TDCJ.

Just telling the truth.

[Dallas]

Let me add to the topic at hand of little Tomas Middleton.AKA 18 year old shooter in this story.I personally met this kid in TDCJ on the Beto unit. He is no wild and crazy kind of kid. He has the mental capacity of a 3rd grader at best. He can barely spell his own name. I searved a good bit of time with this frail child who probably still believes his dad will be there to pick him up soon.He should have never been left in reach of an ak-47 fully auto. When he popped the trigger he could`nt stop the weopan from unloading. Please don`t think my heart does`nt go out to the family of the lady KC`s bar that unforgetable day when some irresponsible(perhaps completly mentally disabled) young man changed the fate of so many lifes. His family has lost him. Her family has lost her.In both cases forever. Little Tomas received 70 years aggravated. Thats 35 years mandatory. Now compared to the victim that is nothing, she will never get the chance to see the light of day. Take it from me,Little Thomas will not last 2years much less 35 before his elegibility for parole arrives. He is in a place, that unless you`ve been there you can`t imagine the daily horrors in his every single day experiance. I have been there with the kid for a period of time. I KNOW he is in a living hell that my words can`t properly describe in order for you to see a clear mental pic. unless you`ve been there. I apologize to those of whom I offend with my opinions. I can only say this was a very f----ed up tradgedy that could have been prevented by his family. The boy did not know that he was making a grave choice when he picked up the assault rifle that was his dad`s. If only you could see this kid, you would know his I.Q. is very low. My heart goes out to all those effected by this tradgedy.

[Texian]

Bloodthirsty, vengeful people only want one thing REVENGE!! TRUE justice of most any kind is inconvenient and doesn't give most of them any personal satisfaction. They could care less about anything like "mental capacity" as long as they get their revenge. Why wan't the gun OWNER charged? Especially if it was FULLY-AUTO like you said, without a class 3 weapons permit, that is a FEDERAL weapons violation! Why is it people want power (weapons) but not the responsibility that goes with it. Could it be because our politicians and church leaders do the same in front of our faces?

[Dallas]

Texian wrote:

Bloodthirsty, vengeful people only want one thing REVENGE!! TRUE justice of most any kind is inconvenient and doesn't give most of them any personal satisfaction. They could care less about anything like "mental capacity" as long as they get their revenge. Why wan't the gun OWNER charged? Especially if it was FULLY-AUTO like you said, without a class 3 weapons permit, that is a FEDERAL weapons violation! Why is it people want power (weapons) but not the responsibility that goes with it. Could it be because our politicians and church leaders do the same in front of our faces?

I do agree with you so much. More than just Little Tommy should assume some of the responsibility. As far as the role models we are shown to follow, I can only agree with you again. Thankyou for being an understanding person. You seem to be a man of good character from the posts I see here and there. Thanks again.

[michael]

The gun was NOT fully loaded and the young man was 18 therfor resposable for his actions not anyone else.

Texian wrote:

Bloodthirsty, vengeful people only want one thing REVENGE!! TRUE justice of most any kind is inconvenient and doesn't give most of them any personal satisfaction. They could care less about anything like "mental capacity" as long as they get their revenge. Why wan't the gun OWNER charged? Especially if it was FULLY-AUTO like you said, without a class 3 weapons permit, that is a FEDERAL weapons violation! Why is it people want power (weapons) but not the responsibility that goes with it. Could it be because our politicians and church leaders do the same in front of our faces?

[Texian]

michael wrote:

The gun was NOT fully loaded and the young man was 18 therfor resposable for his actions not anyone else.<quoted text>

From what ACTUAL jurors have told me, it WAS loaded, however, already don't remember weather it was fully-AUTOmatic or not. One (juror), believes it WAS, but cannot say for sure anymore. Physical age has nothing to do with his level of "mental INcapacity" or as most would term as "retardedness". I wasn't there in person to witness the event or trial and have no 1st hand knowledge of them myself, but I DO understand the
difference between 'alleged justice' and executing a "drumhead" to give an appearance of "justice being served". Whenever Justice is 'played' and 'manipulated' in such ways, we are ALL in danger of being 'rail-roaded' under the right circumstances which theoretically a 'jury of our peers' is suppossed to help prevent.