A teen has been charged in a deadly shooting that left another young man dead and one critically injured in Friendswood, raising alarms in the normally quiet Houston suburb. 17-year-old Connor Hilton was slapped with a mammoth $1 million bond after reportedly being involved in the fatal altercation on December 23, according to Click2Houston.
The violence erupted when Friendswood Police Department received reports of gunfire at around 8:51 p.m. on the 1800 block of La Salle Street. Upon arrival, officers found two victims with gunshot wounds, both promptly rushed to the hospital. The next day, the toll of the incident increased to deadly when 18-year-old Ethan Riley succumbed to his injuries, a tragedy that has struck the community and has put a spotlight on the accused, as reported by ABC13.
Police said that Hilton, who is from Friendswood, initially faced two counts of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, with his bond set at $600,000. However, following Riley's death, the Galveston County District Attorney boosted the stake, imposing a $500,000 bond for each charge. This tweak nudged the figure up to a staggering seven figures, reflecting the gravity of the offenses.
Authorities disclosed that while the second shooting victim remains in critical condition, their focus is now on escalating the charges against Hilton, potentially adding to the teenager's legal woes. The Friendswood Police Department, in collaboration with the Galveston County District Attorney's Office, has been busily working to enhance Hilton's charges, though he has somehow managed to post bond and was released from the Galveston County Jail on Christmas Eve. His current bond conditions, however, do not tether him to GPS monitoring nor envelop the community in an added layer of security—a fact that has not gone unnoticed.
