Dad’s Reaction to 11-Year-Old Stepson’s Death in Road Rage Shooting Caught on Police Bodycam Footage: ‘My Kid Is Dead’ By Desiree Anello

Bodycam footage captured a father’s harrowing reaction to his 11-year-old stepson being shot and killed during a road rage incident in Nevada.

In bodycam footage released by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the devastated dad, identified as Valente Ayala, could be seen just moments after his stepson, Brandon Dominguez, was fatally shot while they were driving on a highway to school in Henderson. 

“My kid is dead,” he screamed as he gestured toward his car. “My son!”

Officers could also be seen putting the suspect, Tyler Matthew Johns, in handcuffs while he seemingly took accountability for the incident. 

“We were road-raging,” the suspect said in the video. “It’s 100 percent my fault. I shot at him, dude. I didn’t even know he had a kid in the car.”

The video also shows the father lying on his back and then an officer grabbing his hand to comfort him.

According to a Nov. 14 press conference, the Henderson Police Department said that the shooting occurred around 7:30 a.m. that day when the two drivers became involved in a “verbal exchange” after one car attempted to pass the other on the shoulder. 

Moments later, according to police, the suspect fired a single shot from a handgun into the vehicle and it struck the boy, who had been sitting in the back seat. The boy’s stepfather, per police, then “rammed” the suspect’s vehicle into the other vehicle.

They both stopped in the middle of the freeway before stepping out of their vehicles and getting into what police described as a “heated exchange.”

After an individual flagged down police, the suspect was taken into custody and held in the Henderson Detention Center on $20,000 bond.

Court records indicate Johns has been charged with one count of open murder with a deadly weapon enhancement and two weapons charges.

Despite life-saving efforts from emergency personnel and medical professionals at a nearby hospital, the boy succumbed to his injuries. 

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“Brandon was the light of our family — our happy, loving boy with the biggest heart, the silliest personality, and a joy that filled every room he entered,” Dominguez’s loved ones wrote on a GoFundMe page created to raise funds for his mother, Rubi Chavarria.

“Whether he was laughing, sharing stories, or simply sitting close, Brandon made every moment feel special. He had dreams, hopes, and a future we were so excited to watch him grow into,” the page continued.

In a statement posted to its Facebook page, authorities described the incident as a “senseless act.”

“Tonight, we’re asking our community to slow down, stay patient, and show restraint behind the wheel,” the post read. “As we enter the holiday season, we often see an increase in crashes and dangerous driving behaviors across the valley — but tragedies like this are preventable. It starts with all of us.”