A family is still fighting for justice one year after a shooting that killed three Garland teens. The teen accused of the shooting has not been arrested.
On the day after Christmas in 2021, an armed male suspect entered a Texaco gas station on the 700 block of West Walnut Street at 7:30 p.m. and opened fire. After killing three teens and injuring a teenage worker, the suspect returned to a white pickup truck in which he and the driver fled the scene.
The police later identified the alleged shooter as 14-year-old Abel Elias Acosta. His father, 33-year-old Richard Acosta Jr., has been identified as the alleged getaway driver.
The elder Acosta turned himself in the night after the shooting and was charged with capital murder, while his son has apparently been in hiding since the incident.
The victims were 17-year-old Rafael Garcia, 16-year-old Ivan Noyola, and 14-year-old Xavier Gonzalez.
As The Dallas Express previously reported, the police believe that the shooting was intended as a targeted attack on some of the store patrons in retaliation for an earlier incident, but the teens were not involved.
Monday, the Gonzalez family lined their home with rows of white chairs in preparation for a prayer night to remember Xavier and the other victims.
A family member, Brenda Salinas, told NBC 5 DFW that the family will never be able to forget this day.
“We relive it every day especially since he’s not here,” she said. “We don’t see that smile walking in.”
“Christmas was a day we all got together and this tore us apart,” said Salinas.
Gonzalez was in line waiting for tacos when the shooting occurred. The Garland freshman played football and loved horses. He dreamt of becoming a cowboy or a ranch hand someday.
The family also used the anniversary of the shooting to make a renewed call for justice.
While the suspected getaway driver, Richard Acosta Jr., will be tried in February, the alleged shooter, Abel Elias Acosta, is still at large.
The Garland Police Department says that it is still actively trying to find the accused killer and continues to receive daily tips.
Although it is not typical for the authorities to release public information about minors, Acosta’s name and description were provided by the police due to his being considered “armed and dangerous.”
Early on, the police believed Acosta was receiving help to evade capture.
“Somebody knows where he’s at,” said Lieutenant Pedro Barineau, a Garland Police public information officer. “He’s not doing this on his own, he’s only 14.”
More recently, Garland Police Lieutenant Richard Maldonado said that the department is working with the U.S. Marshals Service to find Acosta.
The 2021 Garland shooting contributed to the wave of rising crime that has swept through DFW in recent years. The trend has been most notable in Dallas, where city officials struggle to find effective measures to fight criminal behavior and protect city inhabitants, as The Dallas Express continues to report.