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Self-Defense Claim Frees Texas Man After May Shooting
Brandon Curtis
A McLennan County grand jury has cleared a Mart, Texas man of any criminal charges in the shooting death of another man during a May altercation. Merlin Gonzalez claimed self-defense in the fatal incident, and after review, the jury issued a no-bill decision.

MART, TX (2-minute read) — A Mart man accused of fatally shooting another during a tense altercation earlier this year has been cleared of all criminal charges, following a decision by a McLennan County grand jury. The panel issued a “no-bill” last week for 40-year-old Merlin Gonzalez, meaning they found insufficient evidence to indict him for the shooting death of 47-year-old Tarance LaRod Sharp.

The incident took place around 11:30 p.m. on May 19 in the 100 block of South Commerce Street in Mart. When police arrived, they found Sharp on the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest and an exit wound in his back. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Gonzalez was nearby, reportedly talking on the phone when officers arrived. A 9mm pistol in a holster was found about 15 feet from Sharp’s body.

According to arrest records, Gonzalez claimed Sharp had pulled a knife on him, prompting him to use his firearm in self-defense. A witness reported that Sharp was walking west on East Limestone Avenue after a verbal altercation involving Gonzalez near South Pearl. The witness said he lost sight of Gonzalez and heard a gunshot roughly three minutes later.

Although initial investigative reports suggested Gonzalez may have followed Sharp after their dispute, the grand jury ultimately decided not to pursue charges, leading to Gonzalez’s release from the McLennan County Jail. He had been held there since the shooting on a $500,000 bond tied to a murder charge.

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Concealed Nation

No one can read our Constitution without concluding that the people who wrote it wanted their government severely limited; the words “no” and “not” employed in restraint of government power occur 24 times in the first seven articles of the Constitution and 22 more times in the Bill of Rights.
— EDMUND A. OPITZ

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