A courtroom descended into chaos when a teenage murder suspect ended up being attacked by the family of his alleged victim.
18-year-old Victor Nathaneal Rivas has been accused of shooting and killing 15-year-old Ethan Soto last year.
Soto apparently stole THC cartridges from Rivas, which his mother later paid him for. But Rivas still wanted revenge and later shot Soto dead.
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On Friday (October 20), Rivas was at the 144th District Court in San Antonio, Texas, with several other defendants for his pretrial hearing.
When his case was called, Rivas apparently made a gesture towards Soto's family who were also in the courtroom - which then sparked a brawl.
One of Soto's male relatives jumped the barrier and assaulted Rivas, with three others then following suit.
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Two court bailiffs stepped in to break up the fight as the other inmates were ushered out of the room.
Rivas is said to have only suffered minor injuries.
“He is going to be bruised and swollen,” his attorney Adam La Hood told the San Antonio Express.
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The four people - two men and two teenagers - that attacked Rivas have since been charged with assault and disruption of court proceedings.
Speaking after the incident, Judge Ron Rangel, administrative judge for the Bexar County criminal district courts, said: "You think about courtrooms, you’re bringing in victims of violent crimes with people that are accused of committing those violent crimes, so often times courtrooms can become powder kegs.
"One little spark can ignite."
This is the second Texas courtroom fight to have broken out this week as Frank DeLeon Jr was also beaten up by his victim's family.
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The 19-year-old is accused of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend, 16-year-old Diamond Amie Alvarez, last year.
Houston Police shared a booking photo of DeLeon on X - formerly known as Twitter - upon his arrest, alongside a statement.
It reads: "Investigators learned DeLeon was simultaneously in a romantic relationship with Ms Alvarez and another female. When Ms Alvarez learned of the other relationship, she met DeLeon at the park where he shot her multiple times.
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"HPD detectives worked closely with the community to track down witnesses and leads. This cooperation led to DeLeon's arrest."
During his court hearing on Tuesday (October 17), DeLeon is said to have laughed in the face of his victim's mother, Ashley Machado.
Machado then tried to approach DeLeon but was moved away by bailiffs, but Alvarez's uncle got through instead and started hitting DeLeon.
Niamh Shackleton