Houston – Gonzalo Leon, 43, faced Harris County District Court Judge Emily DeToto with defense attorneys Gianpaolo Macerola and Jose Vela to argue for lower bail on Thursday.
Leon is the Houston man accused of shooting and killing 11-year-old Julian Guzman who police said was playing a ding-dong-ditch prank at Leon’s home in the 9700 block of Mimbrough Street on the night of August 30, 2025.
He is currently facing a murder charge and was indicted by a grand jury in September 2025.
In court on Thursday, Leon appeared expressionless with visibly more facial hair.
Attorneys for Leon on Thursday said Leon’s life has been “completely uprooted” by this tragedy and asked the judge to lower his bond to $500,000.
“He has zero criminal history,” said attorney Jose Vela.
Leon is an army veteran and was also in the National Guard. His attorneys said he was honorably discharged.
Before his arrest, they said he was making $3500-$4000 a month.
Vela told the judge his wife and child have had to move out of their house and into an apartment after his arrest.
“His entire life was flipped upside down,” said Macerola after court on Thursday.
Prosecutor Melissa Hoffman argued Leon’s bond should remain the same stating that the future safety of the community is of concern.
“Innocence was taken without justification,” Hoffman said in court.
Judge DeToto denied a bond reduction for Leon.
Hoffman confirmed in court that state prosecutors are working with the grand jury to upgrade Leon’s charge to capital murder.
“The district attorney’s office has been going back and forth with the grand jury to determine whether or not they’re gonna upgrade any of these charges. Typically, that decision is made pretty quickly. It’s been four months. Any minute that someone is behind bars feels like an eternity," said Macerola.
Attorneys for Leon said they are still waiting on evidence from HPD.
“The entirety of the case file from HPD has not been turned over to us,” said Macerola.
On Wednesday, Leon’s attorneys also filed motions to get a private interview jail room and up to $8000 in public funds for a crime scene analyst. The defense argued the expert is necessary to independently analyze physical evidence and reconstruct what happened at the scene.
The judge granted both those motions.