NEW BOSTON, Texas–The victim of a fatal shooting last week was allegedly shot outside his father’s New Boston apartment with his own firearm by a close friend in the heat of an argument.
The accused shooter, Javier Jesus Vega, 21, is currently being held in the Bowie County jail with bail set at $2 million.
Vega is facing a first-degree murder charge in Bowie County in the death a week ago of his friend, Sterling Alexander Levy, 23. Vega had allegedly picked up Levy and Levy’s fiance from the campus of a community college the couple was attending in Mount Pleasant, Texas, according to a probable cause affidavit. As Vega drove from an on-campus parking lot, he allegedly struck a parked car, sparking an argument between Vega and Levy which reportedly continued on the drive and after they arrived back in Texarkana at Levy’s father’s home, where both were living.
Inside the unit at the Front Street Apartments, Vega allegedly “steps up in Sterling’s face and that is when Sterling punches him in the face,” the affidavit said.
Levy and his fiance reportedly went outside to talk while Vega told a woman who was in a back bedroom that he was going to seek treatment at a clinic, the affidavit said. The woman allegedly reported that she told Levy he needed to clean the blood from his face first and that while she was collecting her keys she heard him say, “Fuck that,” and observed him pick something up before heading outside.
Levy’s girlfriend reported that Vega came outside pointing Levy’s gun. Levy allegedly “tried grabbing the gun and that is when Javier fired” a single shot into Levy’s chest, killing him at the scene.
Levy’s fiance told officers that the weapon used to kill Levy belonged to him and was typically stored in the apartment’s kitchen area.
The woman who was in a bedroom at the time of the shooting reported that after hearing the shot, she walked to the door and saw Levy “stumble back in the door and fall,” the affidavit said.
The woman reported to police that she told Vega, “that was enough,” and to put the gun down.
Vega faces five to 99 years or life in prison if convicted of murder.
The case has been assigned to 202nd District Judge John Tidwell, court records show. No attorney of record was listed for Vega on Monday.
