Second teen in 6 months dies at same home

Suspect was ‘crying uncontrollably’ over cousin’s fatal shooting, investigator says

A police officer found the man charged in his teen cousin’s death “crying hysterically” in the front yard of their East Houston home — where another teenager was shot and killed last November. Authorities said they believe both shootings were unintentional.

The tears continued with suspected gunman, Quinten Tyler, 26, in the back of a Houston police cruiser.

“I could hear him crying uncontrollably in the back seat,” the investigator detailed in a sworn statement.

Inside the home in the 9100 block of Shagbark Drive, police found the body of 17-year-old Zachary Jones in the kitchen. He had a gunshot wound to the head, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Tyler repeatedly said he shot Jones and that “it was an accident,” police said. One of the purported admissions was captured on an officer’s body camera, records show. At police headquarters, Tyler said the .38-caliber handgun was his and that he and Jones were alone at home.

“It was difficult gathering a statement from (Tyler) since he would begin crying and I would advise him to breath and take some time to gather himself,” the investigator said.

Tyler has since been charged with manslaughter in Jones’ death. He is being held at the Harris County Jail on a $10,000 bond.

He has no known criminal history in Harris County, according to court records.

Both lived at the Shagbark home, the same residence where Jones’ best friend Kenneth Benjamin Jr., 15, unintentionally shot and killed himself nearly six months ago while playing with a gun. One adult and several teenagers were at the home at the time of the shooting, police said.

In the hours before his death, Benjamin could be seen posing with multiple firearms — including an aquamarine-colored handgun, a small black pistol and what appears to be a long rifle. The photos were shared to his Instagram account.

According to the medical examiner, the manner of Benjamin’s

death was never determined.

In the latest incident, a neighbor told police that Tyler ran to her home in the moments after the shooting and yelled for her to call 911. Tyler returned to his yard and she heard him “screaming ‘no’ repeatedly,” according to records.

The gun used in the shooting was loaded with four bullets. One casing had been fired, police said in records.

In the day following both shootings — the one in November and again over the weekend — neighbors complained of frequent gunfire at the home, with one woman saying that “it's been a bunch of teenagers hanging out” at the home ever since the homeowner's death. According to housing records, the current homeowner is still listed as Benjamin

Tyler, who died in late October.

The same neighbors said on Sunday afternoon that nothing has changed.

“It's just getting out of hand. Two kids in six months? Come on, now,” said Novella Perry, who slept through both shootings. “Terrible, isn't it? All these young lives leaving.”

Child Protective Services officials said they had no record of their involvement with anyone at the home.

A woman who last year identified herself to the Chronicle as Jones’ grandmother said he and Benjamin were best friends. The same woman, when reached again on Tuesday, said she was making funeral arrangements for Jones and was not ready to talk.