The Oct. 27 attack left a 29-year-old delivery driver wounded; investigators cite 911 audio and witness gaps in filing charges.
MESQUITE, Texas — Police arrested a 17-year-old Monday after a monthlong investigation into an Oct. 27 shooting on Birch Bend that injured a DoorDash driver making a late-night delivery. The teen was booked on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon count after officers forced entry at a Regent St. address.
The arrest marks a turning point in a case that began as a routine handoff and escalated into a dispute over a required pin code, according to investigators. Detectives say comparisons of multiple interviews and emergency calls pointed them to the teen, identified as Ledavion Sockwell. The victim, Manuel Gonzalez, 29, was shot several times and survived after immediate aid from responding officers. Authorities say they are still conducting lab tests and reviewing ballistics while preparing to transfer the case to prosecutors. Bond for the teen was set at $150,000 as police sort out remaining questions about who fired and when.
Just before 12:30 a.m. Oct. 27, Gonzalez pulled up to the 2000 block of Birch Bend to complete a delivery. He told police two people outside could not provide the correct pin code needed to release the order. After the correct code was eventually given, he said voices rose inside the house and two men stepped out, one with a handgun. Gonzalez, who also had a legally owned firearm in his vehicle, said he kept it pointed down by his legs and did not raise it. He told officers the man with shoulder-length braids fired first, striking him in the arm and legs. Gonzalez said he fired one round in return, then his weapon jammed as he tried to move away from the front of the home.
Detectives later interviewed people who were at the house, including the teen now under arrest, and compared their accounts to the driver’s statements. In an interview the night of the shooting, the teen claimed an unknown male outside began firing and that he ran for cover. A 911 call placed in the same window contradicted that description. On the recording, a caller linked by investigators to the teen told a dispatcher the driver “pulled a gun… he started shooting and got shot,” describing the event as self-defense. Detectives said the wording clashed with claims that a stranger had attacked the home and, taken with scene evidence and the victim’s repeated account, led them to seek a warrant.
On Monday afternoon, Mesquite’s tactical team executed a search and arrest warrant in the 1400 block of Regent St. Officers forced entry and took the teen into custody without incident. Police said he lives there with his mother. The teen faces an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge and is expected to be moved to the Dallas County jail. No additional counts were announced as of Wednesday. Investigators are testing shell casings, canvassing for security video from neighboring homes and consolidating transcripts of emergency calls to determine the precise round count and sequence of shots.
Gonzalez was hospitalized for nearly a month with wounds to his arm, legs and abdomen; a bullet also grazed his chin, his family said. He returned home last week and is beginning a lengthy recovery. “As soon as they gave me the right one, they went inside screaming a lot of things,” he said, describing the moment before he was shot. Gonzalez told relatives he used his phone’s voice assistant to contact 911 while bleeding. Neighbors reported hearing screams for help followed by sirens as patrol units arrived and applied tourniquets before fire crews transported him.
The incident unfolded against the backdrop of growing reliance on app-based deliveries in North Texas, where drivers routinely verify orders with security codes before handing over food. Police in Mesquite say such disputes seldom turn violent, but they acknowledged that tempers can flare at doorways when customers cannot locate a code or when accounts are under someone else’s name. Public crime summaries show aggravated assaults with firearms remain a persistent share of violent incidents countywide, though shootings tied to delivery disputes are relatively rare and typically involve people who have had some interaction before the brief encounter.
Prosecutors will determine whether to pursue the charge in adult court. Because the count is a violent felony and the suspect is 17, the case would typically proceed in a Dallas County court unless a judge determines otherwise. Investigators have not listed a defense attorney for the teen in initial filings. A court schedule was not posted by mid-week. Police said they expect to deliver the case to the district attorney after the holiday, once lab reports and the full 911 audio review are in hand. Any grand jury action, if required, would likely follow in December.
By Wednesday evening, the teen remained jailed on the aggravated assault charge while Gonzalez continued outpatient care. Police said their next public update is likely after evidence testing is completed next week.
Author note: Last updated November 26, 2025.