Eleven-year-old Julián Guzman and his cousin had been hanging out at a family party late Saturday when they decided to branch out on their own.

But what started as innocent fun would soon take a devastating turn.

They took to the streets of their east Houston neighborhood to play an age-old prank: ring a neighbor’s doorbell, and flee before they have time to answer.

The pair had successfully tricked other neighborhood residents when they came upon a house on Mimbrough Street just before 11 p.m. The two-story home towered over the cousins, but its spacious porch and windows far from the front door made it ideal for ding-dong-ditching.

Julián reached for the doorbell, ready to run.

After ringing the bell, the young boys took off, making it at least 20 feet away before the front door opened and two shots rang out — one finding its mark in Julián’s back, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told CNN.

The preteen’s death from his injuries at the hospital the next day made him the latest, and one of the youngest, victims of deadly violence incited by the doorbell prank that’s been repopularized for a new generation by social media.

“They were doing what 11-year-old boys do, just playing pranks on neighbors,” Teare said. “Tragically, it cost him his life.”

Here’s what we know.

As Julián ran from the home, he had no weapons and there wasn’t any indication that he stole anything, Teare said. Despite this, investigators believe the suspect fired his gun twice, once in an “intentional, measured way” that struck the boy.

The piercing pops from the firearm were replaced by a different kind of cacophony when authorities, soon after, shouted through a bullhorn in front of the home on Mimbrough Street, demanding the person inside come out with their hands up, CNN affiliate KTRK reported.

When he emerged, Houston man Gonzalo Leon Jr., 42, was detained by police, Teare said. Leon’s wife and a young child were also in the home.

Early the next morning, officers brought him back to the home, handcuffed, KTRK reported.

Leon was formally charged with Julián’s murder on Monday, the city of Houston announced Tuesday.

Teare told CNN charges were not filed until authorities had probable cause. “Once we got to a point, sometime on Sunday, that we believe that we had a good idea of what happened, that was when charges were filed.”

He said prosecutors may also seek a capital murder charge, given the young age of the victim.

Leon made an initial court appearance Tuesday and agreed to have a court-appointed attorney.

Prosecutors will request the judge set bond at $1 million at Wednesday morning’s hearing, where Leon is expected to appear again, Teare told CNN. The judge will ultimately decide whether Leon should be allowed to be released on bond.

With a suspect in custody, Teare said investigators are “canvassing the entire neighborhood” for evidence to build a more comprehensive picture of the night that turned devastating for Julián’s family.

The boys left the family party a few streets over from the Mimbrough Street home because they “stopped wanting to hang out with the rest of the family and wanted to go be kids,” Teare said.

Investigators are working to nail down which houses the boys visited before Leon’s and how long Leon had been in the house before the boys got there, he said.

Police don’t have anything that shows the incident “surveillance footage wise,” Teare said, when asked by CNN if there was a doorbell camera at the suspect’s house or surrounding homes that captured the shooting.

But he said the investigation is ongoing.

“We are beating every bush, we’re turning over every rock,” Teare said. “We’re going to exhaust every investigative effort.”

Witness statements, physical evidence from the scene and the autopsy from the medical examiner all helped to inform Leon’s murder charge, he said, and may help to narrow the options for defense at trial.

Many states have laws granting people the right to use force — even deadly force — in any place where they have a legal right to be, like a home, vehicle or workplace.

Often referred to as a “Castle Doctrine” or “Stand Your Ground” legislation, these laws in Texas determine a person is justified in defending themselves, family and property if someone unlawfully enters or tries to enter private premises.

In Texas, a state with “one of the strongest ‘stand your ground’ laws,” according to its governor, people can use deadly force if they believe it’s “immediately necessary” against another person’s use of deadly force, or to prevent assault, robbery and certain other crimes.

Prosecutors firmly deny that this type of legislation is relevant to Leon’s alleged actions Saturday night.

“The castle doctrine does not apply in any way, shape or form to an 11-year-old boy running down the street,” Teare told CNN. “There was no threat to the individual that shot him.”

While the law provides strong protections, cases depend on specific facts from each incident, and law enforcement or a jury can still scrutinize a suspect’s actions to determine if the use of force was justified.

Ding-dong-ditching has been around for generations, long held as a mischievous and childish prank. In the rise of short video-driven social media, users now often go viral on platforms like TikTok after filming themselves in the act, eliciting upset responses from homeowners.

But its recent resurgence in popularity has left children across the country dead after they ring doorbells or pound on and kick front doors.

In a Dallas suburb at the end of July, a man fired shots into a fleeing car after someone banged on his door, according to police. The man was arrested on charges of aggravated assault.

In 2020, three 16-year-olds were killed when a man rammed his car into their vehicle in retaliation for pulling a ding-dong-ditch prank on him. The man was convicted of three counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2023.

Authorities around the US have warned of the physical dangers and legal consequences for children who engage in the prank.

“Think it’s funny to bang on doors and run? Think again,” the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in Indiana wrote in a Facebook post in August. “What might seem like a prank can lead to serious legal trouble, property damage, or worse – someone getting hurt.”

“That’s a good way to end up dead, especially in Florida,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood of the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office told CNN affiliate WESH in July after arresting a 13-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy for kicking a resident’s door one night.

CNN’s Ed Lavandera, Ashley Killough, Amanda Jackson, Holly Yan, Karina Tsui and Alisha Ebrahimji contributed to this report.