(TheProudRepublic.com) – In an incident of violent but deserved retribution, which was caught on video, the family of a brutally murdered teenage girl assaulted and beat up her killer in a courtroom during the suspect’s homicide trial.
Watch the video below.
In a Texas courtroom on Tuesday, a heartbroken mother and her family members confronted her daughter’s alleged killer, claiming the man was “laughing at my face” during her emotional testimony.
The incident occurred on the second day of the murder trial for 19-year-old Frank DeLeon Jr. in Houston, The New York Post and The Daily Caller report.
He is on trial for the alleged murder of his former girlfriend, Diamond Alvarez, 16, whom he is accused of shooting 22 times in January 2022.
Following her emotional victim impact statement, Alvarez’s mother, Anna Machado, directly approached DeLeon but was quickly restrained by a bailiff.
However, as this happened, the girl’s uncle lunged at DeLeon, hitting him multiple times before court staff subdued him.
A video by KHOU showed this chaos, with Machado trying to help her family member but being intercepted by DeLeon’s mother.
After restoring order, Judge Hazel Jones decided to pause the proceedings. It’s a haunting memory for Machado, who recalls hearing the gunshots that killed her daughter.
She tried performing CPR on Alvarez, but her efforts were in vain. DeLeon, who was 17 then, was arrested soon after the incident.
“That was wrong of me, that was wrong of us, because we are not monsters,” Machado said, expressing remorse after the courtroom altercation.
“But it’s so much hate, because I want my daughter back, and what he did is horrible,” the bereaved mother added.
“He’s a monster in my eyes. That would never change. Did he look remorseful at all? No. He was laughing at my face,” she said, emphasizing the value of her daughter’s life.
After the incident, Alvarez’s uncle was detained and led away in handcuffs. The details about any charges he might face are still unclear.
DeLeon and Alvarez’s relationship ended when Alvarez learned that DeLeon was involved with another girl while still dating her. DeLeon invited her to meet at a park the night she was shot.
In the trial’s conclusion, DeLeon took a plea deal, receiving a 45-year prison sentence with a chance for parole halfway through.
