A Lubbock County grand jury has indicted a 25-year-old man accused of impeding the investigation into the shooting death of a 4-year-old boy earlier this month.
Isaiah Holland is charged with a count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 10 years in prison.
He is accused of removing from the scene a firearm that police investigators believed was used in the April 9 shooting death of 4-year-old Jrako Castillo at a home in the 2900 block of East Bates Street.
More: Man arrested following chase after 4-year-old shot in Lubbock home
Lubbock police officers responded to a 5:21 p.m. shots fired call at the home and found the boy suffering from a gunshot wound. The boy’s mother told officers at the scene that the boy shot himself, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Responding officers immediately treated the boy with first aid before EMS arrived to take him to University Medical Center, where he later died, said Lubbock police chief Seth Herman during a news conference the day after the shooting.
Meanwhile, an initial investigation by detectives with the Lubbock Metropolitan Special Crimes Unit indicated that Holland and other members of Castillo’s family were in a bedroom together when Castillo was shot, Herman said.
Witnesses told investigators that Holland fled the scene and “was possibly still armed with the firearm used in the incident,” according to a probable cause affidavit filed with an arrest warrant.
The boy’s mother told officers that Holland was visiting her that day. She said she, Holland and her four children were in the bedroom, the affidavit states.
She said she and Holland laid on the bed and two of her children were near her head and another was in a bassinet.
She said Castillo was standing at the foot of her bed when she heard a gunshot and the boy fell to the floor, the warrant states.
The boy’s mother told officers that she believed Holland was the only person who could have brought a gun to her home.
One of the woman’s children, a 5-year-old girl, reportedly told a forensic interviewer that her mother and Holland were asleep on the bed and a gun was between them.
The girl reportedly said that she and her sister were in their bedroom when she heard the gunshot and that she believed Castillo shot himself with Holland’s gun, the warrant states.
Members of the Lubbock Texas Anti-Gang Unit found Holland about six hours later near the intersection of 45th Street and Avenue P walking eastbound in the middle of the street.
Holland reportedly ran away from officers and, during the foot chase, discarded a firearm – a .22 caliber handgun – in the backyard of a home in the 1600 block of 44th Street.
He was arrested shortly after and the weapon was collected as evidence, Herman said.
During his interview with detectives, Holland reportedly said he left his gun on the bed and Castillo picked it up and shot himself with it. Holland reportedly said he panicked, took the gun and left the house, the warrant states.
He remains held at the Lubbock County Detention Center. His bond is set at $250,000.
Court records show he is represented by Lubbock attorney Audie Reese.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Man indicted on tampering charge in Lubbock child’s shooting death