I genuinely can’t imagine the horror of losing a child, especially in a violent, unexpected way. The grief any parent experiences losing a child from any cause is unimaginable, but to have it happen in a gruesome and completely unanticipated way has to be the most harrowing experience.
On November 14, 2025, Brandon Dominguez-Chavarria, 11, was shot and killed in Las Vegas during a road rage incident when his stepfather, Valente Ayala, and Tyler Matthew Johns, 22, were “jockeying for positions” in traffic.
A heated verbal exchange resulted in Johns firing a round from his handgun at Ayala’s SUV where Dominguez-Chavarria was sitting (allegedly unbeknownst Johns), killing him, according to the New York Post. Ayala then rammed the back of Johns’ sedan before the two men stopped and got out of their vehicles.
Police recently released the devastating bodycam footage of the incident, and it is as harrowing as you would anticipate.
“My kid is dead,” Ayala wailed at the police officer while gesturing toward his Chevrolet SUV. “My son!” As the stepfather yelled, Johns can be seen immediately admitting to the incident.
“I shot at him, bro,” Johns told the cop, explaining that the two were “road raging” when he fired the gun at Ayala’s vehicle. As Ayala screams in the background, you can make out Johns saying “I didn’t know there was a f—ing kid in the back and I killed him.”
Authorities immediately put Johns in handcuffs and went to speak with Ayala and witnesses who pulled over on the freeway. At one point, the footage shows Ayala lying on the road howling in grief.
Johns is reportedly due back in court on December 4.
At a news conference on November 14, the day of the incident, People reported that Henderson Police Chief Reggie Rader urged community members to keep calm behind the wheel.
“We lost a life today that we didn’t have to lose. An 11-year-old was on his way to school and this senseless act took his life,” Rader said. “I would rather you be stuck in traffic and late for your destination than have to go to a funeral for a loved one or potentially spend the rest of your life in prison.”
Since the boy’s death, the family has organized a GoFundMe account that’s raised more than $42,000 of its $75,000 goal thus far.
“Losing him has left a hole in our family that can never be filled,” the organizers of the fundraiser wrote. “As we try to make sense of this unimaginable heartbreak, we are also faced with medical costs, family expenses, and the reality that we need time to mourn and begin healing in whatever small ways we can.”
