SAN ANTONIO — A 14-year-old boy facing a capital murder charge for the killing of a pregnant teen and her mom back in April, KENS5 learned Thursday that the Bexar County District Attorney has not decided if he will be tried as an adult.
Police believe the shooting was an act of gang retaliation that claimed innocent lives.
It's a "continuous cycle" Steve Huerta, a former gang member, has seen all his life in San Antonio.
"Death is real," Huerta said. "It's real and it's final and I think a lot of our youth truly don't understand the consequences of those life-threatening actions that they're doing in our community and putting their own lives and risk."
Huerta has been a part of Big Homie Street Ministry since the non-profit started. The organization works with others in the community to help teens stay away or get out of the lifestyle.
"We've provided over half a million to one million dollars in services to the city and the county," Huerta said. "Our organization and others that are out there, are working to prevent and keep the youth from the fate of death."
He said the District Attorney was accurate when he previously told reporters more often teens are being used by gangs to commit violent crimes. Huerta said he's seen even more violence this summer with many unsupervised youths looking for trouble.
"We do need police in our community there's no doubt about that but we cannot expect them to be the sole solution to crime and violence in our community," Huerta said, "that is our responsibility and until we collectively come together as leaders and begin to have that discussion We won't truly reach the final road of peace and tranquility in our community."
Big Homie Street Mentoring and All of Us or None Texas will be hosting National Night Out event on August 6 between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Avenida Guadalupe. The event in partnership with organizations nationwide aims to bring people together and start a different conversation about community involvement and safety beyond policing.