Family of 16-year-old shot to death in North Austin demand justice

AUSTIN, Texas - A family is seeking justice after the shooting death of a 16-year-old in North Austin last month. The suspect, also 16, has a criminal history and is now facing a first-degree murder charge.

"I’m to pieces. How am I going to make it through this? Is this real? Is this a dream? Man," the victim’s mother, Andrea Coleman, said.

Coleman is grappling with loss.

"My God. It's devastating," Coleman said.

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Coleman said on the evening of September 30, her son, 16-year-old Ahsun Madison left the house.

"Where did you think he was going?" Crime Watch Reporter Meredith Aldis asked Madison’s family.

"Walmart," Coleman responded.

"He was on his way to Walmart, they just came because the bus comes this way," Madison’s father, Devin Madison, said.

He made a stop at the Pathways at Northgate Apartments on Northgate Boulevard.

"He was coming to simply fight someone who has been bullying him for years," Coleman said.

Madison’s parents said he was targeted for his sexuality.

"He don't play basketball. He's more free-spirited. He likes arts. He likes different things than the average boy," Madison said.

"He was in the midst of trying to find himself and just going through his emotions and stuff and just trying to figure out what he was, where he was going to go with it," Coleman said.

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Madison’s father said he never got the chance to make that final decision.

When Madison showed up to the complex, "he got shot, and he's so little, in my heart, I knew right then my baby was not going to make it," Coleman said.

"My son doesn't have weapons. He didn't even have anything to protect himself," Madison said.

A memorial now sits where Madison died.

A 16-year-old has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

"He knows this guy from like seventh, eighth grade," Madison said.

Austin police said the suspect has been involved in multiple shootings in the area, including being present during a seemingly random killing of a 21-year-old earlier this year.

"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," Austin Police Department Detective Nicholas Gebhart said.

The teen, police said, is responsible for Madison’s death was out on probation at the time.

"The things that he was doing in the community, he was a menace, and you kept letting him go. How could a judge sign off on that?" Coleman said.

The suspect was booked into Gardner-Betts Juvenile Center and is going through the juvenile system.

"There are certain situations, certain crimes, or if you commit a certain crime at a certain age in Texas, you can be certified, and you can move into the adult system, and you can be prosecuted in the adult system," St. Edward’s University Criminal Justice Associate Professor Carsten Andresen said.

The Travis County District Attorney is legally not allowed to comment on this case as it remains in the juvenile system.

Currently, about 4,000 people are in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Prison or Parole System who committed their crimes between the ages of 11 and 16.

"He murdered my son. Look what he did before that as well. He should never be out of jail, ever," Coleman said.

As the family calls for accountability, they mourn the loss of Ahsun Madison.