'As a victim, you're so handcuffed and disadvantaged compared to what the criminal has available to them for loopholes. He was indicted on criminally negligent homicide and his bond was set at $3,000. Gabriel Brown, the neighbor who claimed to unintentionally shoot Salyer while he was making modifications to the weapon, later handed himself into police. 'It just terrifies us to think how long he might have laid their suffering with his neighbor next door and not getting any help for him,' Salyer's father Rodney said.Īustin Salyer had just signed a contract with the US Army in September 2021 before he was shot through the wall of his home They told her how her son had been shot through the wall while he was lying in bed.

'I'm sorry to tell you over the phone, but we found your son deceased in his apartment this morning,' police told Bonnie Salyer. Police officials later made contact with Salyer's parents, giving them the horrific news. Going to his apartment, Salyer's friend was met with fire and emergency medical services. Thinking that he overslept, and knowing he was highly unlikely to leave without his phone, she repeatedly called him to wake him up.Īfter not hearing from him, she contacted one of his friends later that morning to see if he could get a hold of him. Knowing that he had to be up at 4.30am for a marching exercise with his platoon, Bonnie S alyer noticed that her son had not moved from his location at home. Recounting the harrowing story, Salyer's mum told Fox 7 Austin how she had texted her son goodnight for what would be the last time. At the time he was a junior studying criminal justice and military science at Texas State University. S alyer had just signed a contract with the US Army in September 2021 before he was shot through the wall of his home. He subsequently turned himself in but was not arrested Gabriel Brown claimed he accidentally fired while modifying a gun.

The hand on the wall maureen johnson