What started as friends passing around a handgun at a central El Paso house party ended with one teen dead and another walking away with probation instead of prison time, according to court records. Alan Mora, 18, was convicted of criminally negligent homicide in the Oct. 7, 2024, shooting that killed his friend, 18-year-old Jesus Alberto Gonzalez. Witnesses told investigators the two had been posing for photos with the gun and handing it back and forth just before it went off inside the home.
Online court records obtained by KFOX-TV show Mora was convicted of Criminal Negligent Homicide and sentenced on Nov. 3 to seven years of probation and 300 hours of community service. The records indicate no state jail term was imposed. They also do not spell out whether the punishment was the result of a negotiated plea deal or a separate agreement.
Police records reviewed by KVIA state officers were called to a house on the 3300 block of E. San Antonio Avenue near Chamizal National Memorial, where they found Gonzalez inside with a gunshot wound to the head. According to KVIA, witnesses told detectives that Mora pulled out a black handgun, posed for photos with it, and then passed it back and forth with Gonzalez before a loud bang. Witnesses said Mora then ran from the house toward Ciudad Juárez. The El Paso Police Department's Crimes Against Persons unit later took over the investigation.
Under Texas Penal Code Sec. 19.05, criminally negligent homicide is a state jail felony that can carry between 180 days and two years in a state jail facility, with the possibility of increased penalties when a deadly weapon is involved, according to the Texas Penal Code. In this case, court records reflect that Mora received probation rather than any time in a state jail facility, as reported by KFOX-TV.
