Connor Hilton booking photo Galveston County Sheriffs Office (Texas)
A few days before 17-year-old Connor Hilton posted $1 million bail and walked out of jail for allegedly shooting one fellow teenager in Texas and critically wounding another, he posted a video of himself on social media rapping, “you better run or you ’bout to meet my gun.”
The double shooting, according to statements from the Friendswood Police Department reviewed by Law&Crime, happened on Dec. 23 at around 9 p.m. in a suburban neighborhood outside of Houston. When police arrived on the scene, they said Hilton, 17, had allegedly shot two individuals, Ethan Riley, 18, and a 19-year-old victim who has not yet been identified by police.
Both Riley and the other victim were sent to a local hospital to be treated for their injuries.
On Dec. 24, Hilton was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with bodily injury and booked into the Galveston County Jail. His bond was set at $1 million and he posted it by midday, local ABC affiliate KTRK first reported.
But once one of his victims, Ethan Riley, 18, died in the hospital, District Attorney Jack Roady upgraded the charges to murder, arrest records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Though Hilton spent Christmas Day with his family, by that evening, police had rearrested him on the more serious murder charge. He remains in jail and it does not appear a new bond has been issued. Other terms are also unclear at this time.
When his bond conditions were first set, notably they did not include GPS monitoring nor any other conditions aimed at “extra security for the community given the violent actions of Hilton,” the Friendswood Police Department noted on Facebook.
Details of what motivated Hilton to allegedly shoot Riley and the other man is unclear, though there seemed to be a disturbing precursor to events on Hilton’s social media according to KTRK. The outlet found an Instagram video where Hilton recorded himself rapping the lyrics “you better run or you ’bout to meet my gun.”
Though Hilton is 17, he is likely to be tried as an adult in Texas given the severity of the charge.
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