Justin Dewayne Owens, a 7-year-old White male from Amarillo, was gravely wounded by gunfire on the evening of May 27, 2020, after police were called to the 3900 block of Paradise Avenue where officers found a juvenile boy in the street with a gunshot wound. He was rushed for treatment but died two days later, on May 29, 2020. Loved ones memorialized him in funeral notices and burial announcements the following week, marking the short life he lived and the sudden violence that ended it.
Investigators with the Amarillo Police Department’s Homicide Unit determined that the shot that killed Justin was fired by another child—only nine years old. Because of the child’s age, police said no criminal charges could be filed. Local outlets and station posts that summarized the case emphasized that conclusion by authorities, even as the city tried to process a tragedy in which both the victim and the person who pulled the trigger were children.
In the days that followed, Justin’s family prepared services and a burial at Llano Cemetery, details that appeared in obituary listings and funeral home notices. In a measure of grace amid loss, hospital officials later noted that Justin became an organ donor, helping give others a chance at life. There were no arrests in the case; police accounts consistently indicated that the only identified suspect was under the age at which charges could be brought.
