A 13-year-old boy has been arrested and charged with capital murder in connection with a fatal shooting on San Antonio's West Side more than a year ago, one that left a 20-year-old man dead after his car crashed into a home. The boy was just 12 years old at the time of the June 2025 killing, and he appeared in juvenile court this week for an initial detention hearing before a judge ordered him held until his next court date later this month.
The victim, identified by the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office as Marcus Rene Nolf Estrada, 20, died from gunshot wounds in a case the office ruled a homicide. According to KSAT, police responded to a shooting call around 8:30 p.m. on June 9, 2025, in the 300 block of Otter Drive, where officers found Nolf Estrada in the driver's seat of a vehicle that had crashed into a home. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
San Antonio police have confirmed the 13-year-old is the only person arrested so far in the case, and the investigation remains active. Three suspects were seen fleeing the scene on foot from the 300 block of Otter Drive on the night of the shooting, though they were not found during the initial search, the station's report notes.
A Chaotic Scene on Otter Drive
West Side resident Crystal De La Fuente described hearing two gunshots rattle her home around 8 p.m. before Nolf Estrada's car came rolling toward her house, as reported by KSAT. Her mother had reportedly been watering plants near the driveway shortly before the vehicle curved into the property. A friend of De La Fuente's attempted CPR on Nolf Estrada while she called 911, per the same account.
Police believed the suspect or suspects knew Nolf Estrada and that the shooting was not a random act of violence, according to KENS 5. That outlet also reported that initial police reports indicated three male suspects fled on foot following the shooting. In the hours after the killing, the San Antonio Police Department deployed its EAGLE helicopter and K9 search teams in an effort to track down the suspects in the surrounding neighborhood, as detailed by the San Antonio Express-News.
Why the Boy Can't Face Adult Charges
Because the suspect was only 12 years old at the time of the shooting, Texas law bars prosecutors from ever certifying him to stand trial as an adult. Under Section 54.02 of the Texas Family Code, a juvenile must be at least 14 at the time of an alleged offense before a case can be transferred to adult criminal court, according to Varghese Summersett. That means the mandatory life-without-parole or death penalty sentences available in adult capital murder cases are legally off the table here.
Instead, the maximum penalty prosecutors could pursue is what's known as a determinate sentence, capped at 40 years under Section 53.045 of the Texas Family Code, per state statute. That sentence would begin in a Texas Juvenile Justice Department facility, with a mandatory hearing before the offender turns 19 to determine whether he should be transferred to adult prison or released. A grand jury would first need to approve a petition before prosecutors could seek that outcome against the teen.
No Guardian Notified at Hearing
During the boy's initial detention hearing this week, a juvenile probation officer told the court that officials had not been able to notify a family member or guardian about the arrest or the proceeding. Under Section 53.04 of the Texas Family Code, petitions and hearings involving a juvenile require reasonable efforts to notify and serve a parent, legal guardian, or adult relative, per the Texas Constitution and Statutes. Probation officers said they were still attempting to reach family members at the time of the hearing.
Judge William “Cruz” Shaw presided over the hearing and ordered the teen to remain in detention until his next hearing later this month. Shaw was elected to Bexar County's 436th Juvenile District Court in 2022, becoming the first Black man elected to a state district judgeship in Bexar County history, according to Texas Public Radio. He previously represented District 2 on the San Antonio City Council before joining the juvenile bench, as reported by the San Antonio Report. Hoodline has previously covered Shaw presiding over another juvenile detention hearing involving a violent felony charge.
The June 9 killing on Otter Drive was one of 105 homicides recorded in San Antonio in 2025, according to a KSAT analysis tracking the city's fatal violence by geographic sector. Much about the juvenile case remains unavailable to the public, and police say the investigation into the other three suspects who fled that night is still ongoing.
