Teens target wrong house, kill stranger in North Texas drive-by shooting, police say
Three teenage suspects who planned a drive-by shooting motivated by a “juvenile feud” targeted the wrong house and killed a man they didn’t know, according to North Richland Hills police.
Officers arrested the three suspects this weekend in connection with the Wednesday night shooting that killed 52-year-old Brian Cason Pence, who was asleep inside his home.
The shooting occurred shortly before 11 p.m. on Nov. 27 in the 7300 block of Stonybrooke Drive.
Investigators learned that a vehicle stopped in the street and the car’s occupants fired multiple rounds from handguns. One of the gunshots went through a window and hit Pence while he was sleeping in his bed, police said. Pence died after medics took him to John Peter Smith Hospital.
Early on Saturday morning, Nov. 30, North Richland Hills police detectives worked with Fort Worth police to coordinate the arrests of two of the murder suspects. The third suspect was arrested during a traffic stop on Sunday, Dec. 1.
Police said they are confident that everyone involved in the killing is now in custody.
“Tragically, the suspects had no connection to Mr. Pence,” police said in a statement. “Instead, these three individuals, who are not residents of North Richland Hills, entered the city intending to carry out a drive-by shooting stemming from what can only be described as a juvenile feud. However, they targeted the wrong address.”
Police identified two of the suspects as 18-year-old Martin Mauricio Marquez Diaz and 19-year-old Anthony Zapata, both of Fort Worth. They were booked into the Tarrant County Jail on Monday.
Bond for Zapata has been set at $160,000, while a bond amount for Marqeuz Diaz has not been set, according to jail records.
Jail records identified the third suspect as 17-year-old Alexander Ortega, also from Fort Worth. He was released on bond early Monday morning.
Investigators have not said which house the teens intended to target or what the alleged feud was about.
This story was originally published December 1, 2024 at 9:02 PM.
