Left inset: Tyler Johns ((Henderson Police Department). Right inset: Brandon Dominguez-Chavarria (GoFundMe). Background: Body camera footage showing father Valente Ayala pleading with police after Tyler Johns allegedly shot and killed his son Brandon Dominguez-Chavarria during a road rage incident (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police).
Body camera footage shows a Nevada stepdad crying out in agony after a 22-year-old driver gunned down his 11-year-old stepson and then calmly told police, "I f—ing killed him," according to the video and cops.
"I didn't know he had a kid in the back," Tyler Johns can be heard telling a responding officer, according to the bodycam footage, which was released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and shared online by local media outlets. "You shot at him?" the officer asks. "Yeah!" the father, Valente Ayala, says. "My kid is dead!"
Johns allegedly admits on camera that he was "road raging" at the time of the Nov. 14 shooting on the 215 Beltway in Las Vegas. He allows police to take him into custody without incident and can be seen calmly speaking about what allegedly happened and the aftermath.
"Is there a chance that the kid will be okay?" Johns asks an officer on scene, according to the footage. "There's always a chance," the officer replies. "If you're a praying man, I would be praying right now."
Johns was charged with murder, discharging a firearm from or within a structure or vehicle within a prohibited area, and discharging a firearm into an occupied structure in connection with the road rage incident. The Henderson Police Department says he got into a verbal altercation with Ayala, who was driving his 11-year-old stepson Brandon Dominguez-Chavarria to school on Friday morning, before Johns opened fire.
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Henderson Police Chief Reggie Rader reported during a press conference that the two men were "jockeying for positions, trying to pass each other on the congested freeway." One of them tried to pass the other using the shoulder, at which point the drivers "rolled down their windows and got into a verbal exchange," according to Rader.
Johns allegedly pulled out a handgun and fired into the other driver's vehicle, hitting Brandon while he was sitting in the back seat. Rader said Ayala "rammed" into Johns' vehicle, "causing them both to come to a stop in the middle of the freeway." The two men got out of their vehicles and got into a "heated exchange." A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer who was driving nearby was "hailed down" and stopped, with his body camera catching the aftermath on video. Brandon was taken to the hospital, where he died from his injuries.
"An 11-year-old was on his way to school and this senseless act took his life," Rader said. "It is not worth it to engage in this type of behavior."
Johns was denied bail during his first court appearance last Saturday and remains in custody.
Jamie Frevele contributed to this report.