No closure in closed case
Mother, police don't agree on son's death

09:40 AM CST on Wednesday, January 10, 2007
By TIARA M. ELLIS / The Dallas Morning News

ALLEN – Tina Carr said she's learned that justice is hard to come by. And in the case of her 14-year-old son – fatally shot at a friend's house – she doesn't expect to find it.

MONA REEDER/DMN Tina Carr wears a shirt with a photo of her son Tyrone Bush on it.

The investigation into Tyrone Bush's 2005 shooting death is closed, Allen police spokesman Capt. Robert Flores said Tuesday.

Lazaro "Larry" Sandoval had been accused of making a gun accessible to his then-16-year-old son – the same gun that police say Tyrone mishandled and used to accidentally shoot himself.

The Collin County district attorney's office dismissed the misdemeanor case against Mr. Sandoval last week, about two weeks before the case was to go to trial. First Assistant District Attorney Greg Davis said there was insufficient evidence to prove the case but would not elaborate.

Making a gun accessible to a minor is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.

Unless police receive new evidence, Capt. Flores said, there will be no more charges filed against Mr. Sandoval.

One day before Independence Day in 2005, Tyrone and his older brother, Travis, went to the Sandoval home for a party. The boys were supposed to stay away from that house, Mrs. Carr said.

"They knew better than to be over there. Ty and Travis told me they were going to spend the night with another friend, and they all went over there," Mrs. Carr said. "I told them I didn't like that boy."

According to police records, Tyrone was in the living room with the gun and accidentally shot himself. Mr. Sandoval's son left the house with the gun and threw it in a creek. It was never found.

A charge of tampering with evidence is still pending against the teen, who is not being named because he was a minor at the time of the shooting.

He is being held by the Texas Youth Commission because at the time of shooting he was on probation for a previous criminal case, Capt. Flores said.

Did he give guns?

Mr. Sandoval, who has a history of convictions for driving while intoxicated in Collin County, could not be reached for comment.

His attorney, Dawn Hedlund, called the case a "trumped-up charge" and added that the district attorney's office would need to show that her client gave his son the gun.

"Those allegations were not going to be proven," Ms. Hedlund said. "He's always maintained he had no knowledge of what was going on between the boys and was awoken by the sound of the gun."

In an arrest warrant affidavit, Allen police said that Mr. Sandoval told police that he knew his son had three guns and that they were "for his protection."

Ms. Hedlund said she never saw any recorded testimony from Mr. Sandoval saying he gave his son guns.

"Teenagers bring many things into the home that parents are not aware of," Ms. Hedlund said. "This case should never have been filed."

'Want the truth'

Mrs. Carr does not believe her son accidentally shot himself.

"People tell me, 'Mrs. Carr, you just don't want to accept the facts,' " she said. "Either way it goes, him shooting himself or someone else shooting him, it's not going to make it easier."

"I just want the truth."

That one gunshot did more than kill Tyrone. It changed the entire family.

Travis, who is now 17, closed himself off after the shooting. His family said he blamed himself for Tyrone's death because Mr. Sandoval's son was his friend and he was the reason Tyrone was at that house, Mrs. Carr said.

Travis is in a Louisiana jail, according to his mother, who would not say why.

Their two younger sisters, Tonaiya, 9, and Traiya, 7, seem scared to talk about Tyrone, Mrs. Carr said. Traiya is afraid of the dark, has nightmares, and often sleeps with her mother.

And Mrs. Carr's marriage has suffered. She and her husband, Anthony Carr, had separated. But a few months ago they got back together and are working to rebuild their relationship.

She has been blaming everyone for Tyrone's death. But mostly, she blames Mr. Sandoval and his son.

"You know how you say you hate someone? I always said that's a strong word, and I should not use it," Mrs. Carr said. "But I hate those two."

E-mail tellis@dallasnews.com