San Antonio – A family said they are trying to heal after their loved one was shot and killed during a fight early Saturday morning.
The shooting happened around 1:30 a.m. in the 1400 block of Rivas Street. San Antonio Police Department said when they got to the scene, they found a 24-year-old man suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper torso.
The gunman accused of fatally shooting the victim, Lesundre Tyrese Zacharie, 19, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder Saturday.
He is also charged with possession of a controlled substance.
A family member, who asked not to be identified, said it seemed like pure chaos that erupted quickly.
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“The only thing I saw was a group of kids out there and my little cousin had come out and, before you know it, you saw gunfire and stuff like that,” the family member said. “He was just lying there.”
He said he doesn’t know if his cousin was in a feud with the suspect or not.
“I don’t know what kind of beef he had with anybody,” the family member said. “All I know is that you now have families who are hurt. No one wants to see this happen in their neighborhood and this used to be a good neighborhood.”
The family said gun violence is senseless.
“It is uncalled for,” the family member said. “It is so easy to get guns these days. Every corner you know, it seems like a kid has a gun. So how do you stop it? I don’t know. It goes back to young parents raising parents when they are kids themselves.”
He said having a structured household could prevent violent situations like this from happening.
“If my mother and father had to go to work, I had a grandmother that wouldn’t allow me to just do anything and everything,” the family member said. “So, if you got young people raising the young and they don’t know which way to go, then it is going to be kind of hard. You got to go back to the old basics of old-time religion and then in schools, they took away paddling and children can’t be chastised anymore without consequences.”
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The family member said not knowing both sides of the story makes this shooting more complicated.
“I don’t know what to tell the person who did this because I don’t know both sides of the story,” the family member said. “Whatever happened that was between him and my cousin, I can’t tell you. All I know is that you did a wrong, and if you want to make it right, turn yourself in and say ‘Hey, it was a misunderstanding,’ and let the courts decide.”
He said he hopes this incident serves as a lesson to others.
“Think about what you are doing,” the family member said. “You are taking a loved one from a family and now that family can replace that loved one. For anyone that takes a life, you must understand that in the end, you will be judged also. If not by man, by the supreme being himself.”
