Prosecutors won’t charge stepfather of 11-year-old killed in road rage shooting

Prosecutors are not charging the stepfather of an 11-year-old killed in a road rage shooting, but considered the possibility, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said Friday.

Brandon Dominguez-Chavarria, 11, was killed in the Nov. 14 shooting.

Authorities have said his stepfather, Valente Ayala, and Tyler Johns were “jockeying” for positions on the westbound 215 Beltway near Gibson Road and arguing with each other before Johns shot into the backseat of Ayala’s vehicle, hitting the child in the head.

“We thoroughly explored the possibility of charging the stepfather with a crime,” said Wolfson, adding that prosecutors reviewed videos and weighed a charge of child abuse, neglect or endangerment.

But “in order to prove child abuse and neglect and endangerment, there has to be a degree of behavior and conduct and what he did that day, after reviewing all the evidence, doesn’t rise to that level,” Wolfson said.

One witness called Ayala “the aggressor,” according to police. After the shooting, Ayala and Johns continued to argue in the road, police have said.

Johns faces murder and gun charges.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.