13-year-old arrested for murder of man in North Austin: APD
AUSTIN, Texas - A 13-year-old boy was arrested for murdering a 21-year-old man in January, the Austin Police Department said.
Austin police said on Jan. 8 at around 7:48 p.m., officers responded to a shooting at the Avalon Palms apartment complex at 9300 Northgate Blvd.
When officers arrived, they found 21-year-old Francisco Muntufa Miranda with an apparent gunshot wound. ATCEMS arrived and took him to the hospital where he later died.
21-year-old Francisco Muntufa Miranda
"I still believe this is a random act of violence stemming from simply someone running into someone else," Austin Police Department Detective Nicholas Gebhart said.
MORE: Shooting at North Austin apartment complex leaves 1 man dead: APD
The Homicide Unit along with the Gang Suppression Unit and Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF) initiated a months-long investigation to identify the suspects responsible for Francisco's murder.
On Monday, March 25, detectives and officers with VCTF executed a home search warrant in the area of Loyola Lane and Decker Lane.
During this investigation, the lead detectives were able to identify a teen as a suspect in the murder. This teen was found to be in possession of multiple extended capacity pistol magazines that were linked to the murder weapon.
Detectives were also able to determine that this teen was involved in several other shootings, including a drive-by shooting that happened on Dec. 20, 2023, at a convenience store in the North Austin area.
Police said at the time of the drive-by shooting, there were nine victims inside the store, including five children.
"Bullets went through the front glass of the convenience," Gebhart said. "There were nine victims inside the store, including 5 children in the age range of 4 to 15 years old."
On Tuesday, March 26, the 13-year-old teen was arrested for murder and five aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charges and booked into Gardner Betts Juvenile Detention Center.
A second arrest of another teen, a 15-year-old, was also made in relation to the drive-by shooting in December 2023.
"During this investigation, I've been investigating several different juveniles, and, in my experience, I haven't seen it like this before, but there does seem to be a high amount of violent crime being committed by juveniles in that North Austin area," Gebhart said.
Detective Gebhart said they are part of a hybrid gang.
"Which is what we call younger juveniles coming together in an area, but not having the generational ties to traditional, well-known gangs," Gebhart said. "We don't know exactly how they got them or where they came from, but many weapons are stolen, but they're also simply bought off the street, not specifically stolen," Gebhart said.
"I've linked them to several other shootings, but those are still pending," Gebhart added.
Detective Gebhart said he hopes this arrest will bring some peace to Miranda’s family.
Anyone with any information should contact the Austin Police Department at 512-974-TIPS. You may submit your tip anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or by calling 512-472-8477.