SAN ANTONIO — As he formally sentenced an admitted murderer to a lengthy prison stay, District Judge Joel Perez did not hold back when addressing defendant Isaac Gonzales, a 17-year-old who confessed that he did indiscriminately fire more than 100 rounds into the wrong house during a 2022 drive-by attack on Bald Mountain Drive.
"You are the poster child for what is wrong with young people such as yourself today," Perez told the young man. "You think you can go shoot up a house – in this case the wrong house – and settle your problems with firearms and kill a purely innocent woman, without regard to her life or limb, recklessly killing someone."
Gonzales was handed a 40-year term for murder and the maximum 20-year sentence for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The terms are to be served concurrently, meaning the teen will remain in prison for at least 20 years.
The survivor of the attack and the family of a woman killed in the barrage spoke passionately and eloquently about the impact of this unprovoked attack.
Terescha Howard was an overnight guest at the home that one detective described as looking like Swiss cheese after the attack in October 2022.
Fighting back tears at times, Howard offered an eyewitness attack of the terror, describing what happened minute by minute.
The details are hard to absorb.
Howard said her host, Novita Brazil, had set up a desk in her room so she could do some late-night computer work.
"As I rested and was about to fall asleep, the entire house lit up like fireworks. The glass in the lamp on the ceiling broke. I didn't understand what was going on until I heard a big thump and I saw a bullet hole in the wall," Howard said, adding she tried to save herself and her dog as bullets kept shredding the room.
"I moved to the side of the bed, and immediately a bullet missed my head by a second when it went through the headboard of the bed."
It wasn't long, she said, before one of the bullets pierced her right leg.
"I felt a sting in my leg; I thought some of the glass hit me when it fell down from the ceiling. I removed the covers to get on the ground and saw so much blood."
Howard said even now, more than a year later, when she looks at the scar on her leg it reminds her of the searing trauma.
"I was in pain and realized I had a gaping hole in my leg. The bullet went straight through and I had been shot," Howard said.
'The bullets were never-ending'
In the ensuing chaos, Howard said she couldn't find her phone to call for help so she rolled to the ground in an effort to save herself and her dog.
"The shooting from outside was nonstop. All I could do was try and dodge the bullets. I dragged my body on the floor and hid behind the mattress."
Howard said she realized the mattress offered little in the way of protection.
"I realized I wasn't safe there either because a bullet came through the mattress."
When there was a momentary cease-fire, Howard said she feared the attack would continue.
"I felt like they were gunning just for me as the bullets were never-ending," she said. "It finally stopped for a moment, which I assumed you all were reloading."
Howard said as she tried to crawl down a hall to find safety, she realized she was leaving a trail of gushing blood.
When she saw a body on the floor, Howard said she realized her host had also been shot.
Sobbing softly, Howard said: "I looked closer and it was Novita. She was face-down. I yelled to her and ask if she was OK and I received no response."
Tears flowed freely as Howard continued.
"Right when I was going to reach over and roll her over to see if she was breathing, the bullets started spraying again."
With shrapnel flying around, Howard said, "It literally looked like a war zone that you see on TV. The shots were so close I just knew I was going to get hit again."
Howard said she was eventually able to call for help. When it arrived, she was again fearful.
"I knew it had to be the shooters coming to finish off the job."
When Bexar County deputies broke into the home, Howard said, "They saw me in the bathroom and I told them 'It's just my leg.' They immediately went to Novita and pronounced her dead. I still haven't wrapped my mind around such a sweet person happy and talking one hour prior to no longer being alive."
'She wanted to make her parents proud'
Images of the violent death remain fresh in her mind, even though more than one year has passed.
"I see her every day," Howard said. "I see her in my dreams, my thoughts. I sadly see her on the floor in a puddle of blood. And I will have to live with that forever."
Her own recovery has been grueling.
"I had to learn to walk again and how to use my right leg. I hid that I got shot from my son so he wouldn't have a complex or need therapy, but he knew something bad had happened to his mom."
Howard said her extended family has been in therapy as well.
"There were 40-plus rounds in my room, and the same in Novita's. It wasn't a warning, it was a mission to kill," Howard said.
Addressing Gonzales directly, Howard made sure he realized the impact of his violent actions.
"You took a life you never met and ruined so many others," she said. "Your understanding and care for life is non-existent. You played with guns pretending to be a thug, while never even looking any of your victims in the eye."
Calling out the young man's parents for failing to supervise him, Howard told Gonzales, "You don't even know what death looks like because you were a coward and shot from outside of the house. You shot your gun blindly, then fled the scene and that doesn't make you a man or hard core."
Delivering remarks over Zoom with the help of a translator from Indonesia, the parents of Novita Brazil described their only daughter as a loving child who was living her dream life while sending money home to help support her younger brothers' schooling.
Brazil's father said she was a smart girl, calling her a devoted daughter who helped sell bread at school.
"She wanted to make her parents proud and happy," he said. "After graduating high school, she asked my permission to start making her dreams come true. She asked (for) my blessing to go to Paris, France, and with a happy heart I let her go."
Grieving over the fact that she died so far from her native home, the father said Novita "was in pain and died by bullet without her parents by her side."
"Until this moment, we are 15 months with our broken hearts," the father continued. "We cannot believe that she is gone forever. Our prayer for the killer is that he won't get any happiness in life."
Wiping away tears and stifling sobs, Brazil's mother said, "My heart is shattered in pieces when I know that my only daughter that I love is gone forever. She shared my life, my happiness and my sadness through my days."
Echoing the help Novita provided to her family, the mother said, "By my blessing, she went to other countries to fix our economic problem and get a better life for her family."
"She promised she would make me happy and help her brother, to pay their school," the mother continued, saying she shared video calls with her daughter every day. "But now her dream will fade away because her life was taken."
Believing her memory will live on, the mother called Novita "my heartbeat, my blood, my soul, my angel and we will always love her."
One trial ends, another begins
Defense attorney Adam LaHood, who worked to arrange the plea deal that will result in Gonzales remaining in prison until the teen is at least in his mid-30s, said his sentences for aggravated assault and murder will run concurrent with each other.
"Isaac took responsibility for what happened," LaHood said. "This is a tragic case. This is a person who was 15 years old at the time of the offense. They are clearly not thinking the same as an adult would."
LaHood said Gonzales, who faced up to life in prison if he had been convicted by a jury, has had time to reflect on his choices and is remorseful.
"Honestly, today we were hoping that he would have a chance to address and apologize, but things were hectic and moved quickly with the Zoom and the morning just kind of got away from us," LaHood said. "Privately he has expressed severe remorse and I have no doubt if he could take it back, he would."
LaHood said with juveniles there is always a moment when the reality of their actions sets in.
"This isn't a video game. This isn't TikTok. This isn't some viral meme or anything else like that," he said. "People sometimes live in a fantasyland but these actions have consequences."
"Today is a very sad day for our city," prosecutor Neal Cordero said. "We mourn the loss of Novita Brazil and we mourn what Terescha Howard has gone through. We mourn the loss of who she once was before the shooting and the struggles she has to go through."
"Our youth are turning to gun violence to handle their problems and it's not okay," Cordero added. "Despite the sad nature of today, there is still hope. I don't want to end with a sound of hopelessness, because that is not the truth."
"The truth is that in Novita's name justice was delivered today," Cordero said, adding: "A warning has been issued because if you commit this sort of gun violence, if you as a youth believe it is right to handle your problems in this way, then you must be ready to face the consequences of that. You must be ready to go to prison for a very, very long time. Longer than you have even been alive."
"His actions on the night of the murder and his actions throughout this entire process definitely led to the sentence that he received today," Cordero said, addressing the behavior Gonzales exhibited while awaiting trial, in which he taunted law enforcement and was accused of bragging about his exploits on social media. "I hope today was a sobering moment for him."
Cordero said the threat of additional charges for other assaultive behavior is still a factor for Isaac Gonzales, and for his co-defendant who has yet to go to trial; Rene Gonzales only 14 years old the night of the Bald Mountain attack.
"Those are open investigations at this time," Cordero said. "They are actively being worked on and they did factor into not only what we did today with Isaac Gonzales, but what will eventually be done with Rene Gonzales. I can guarantee you that."
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