Uvalde, Texas-John Duane VanMeter, a professional boxer, was found bleeding out on his home’s floor a Wednesday night in January. The suspect, the police say, is a twelve-year-old friend of the son of VanMeter’s fiancee.
VanMeter’s fiancee, Sammy Arellano, recounted the events that happened on the night of the murder. According to her testimony, she and her family heard a person kicking the front door open. She and her children went and hid in the back bedroom while VanMeter went to inspect the source of the noise. She reports that the only thing heard was a great commotion, and when all noise stopped she found her fiancee bleeding out on the floor, witnesses helped identify a person in black clothing leaving the general area of VanMeter’s home. The police apprehended the person who ended up being a twelve-year-old elementary boy.
The boy that was apprehended and suspected to have been the one to have shot VanMeter was sent to Jourdanton Juvenile Detention Center. The boy will be kept detained while the police keep investigating for more evidence. The twelve-year-old was reported to have been the best friend of VanMeter’s son and used to stay over at VanMeter’s home for quite a few days later on though they tried to separate themselves from him and tried to keep their son away from him.
Sammy Arellano told the boy to stop staying at their home because she was going to be marrying VanMeter soon. She reported that the boy seemed to be angry about being told not to show up anymore.
There has been speculation that the boy was either abused or neglected by his family and that that was the reason that he used to stay over at VanMeter’s home. There have been police investigations on his family before, but nothing has ever been confirmed. Although, the boy’s actions and way of being have been reported to have been concerning. For example, he is known in the community as not only a stealer but also as a troublemaker. Not only that but Sammy Arellano has reported that the boy had threatened people before including her son.
An executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center has even stated that “A kid who commits murder is not thinking about the law. He or she is caught up in some very complicated set of emotions. We are dealing with somebody who has been seriously abused or neglected or is mentally ill ”. Those were the exact words used by him that more likely than not could be actually plausible.
After the boy’s father was interviewed, another side of the story appeared. The father has stated that on one occasion the boy had been threatened with violence from VanMeter and one of his friends. Of course, this cannot be confirmed either as there is no actual evidence of this event happening.
The boys family, after being told of the boy’s actions, reacted with shock and appalled at his actions. They said that they had no idea of there being a reason for the boy to have shot VanMeter.
Of course, as stated before there has been speculation that there is a possibility that the family of the boy is the ones responsible for being the cause of the boy’s attitude and subsequent murder of John VanMeter. Although there is no evidence of this being valid, there are still many opinions from many people rampaging around with their thoughts on the matter.
Until more information is found, that confirms the validity of detaining the twelve-year-old he will be kept detained until he is found either guilty or innocent of the accusations of capital murder being thrown at him. While all this is happening, those close to VanMeter still mourn his passing and wait for justice to be delivered.

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