09/04/2026
Shooting Death of Caden Crow
On May 2, 2026, patrol officers responded to a report of a gunshot victim, Caden Crow, and shortly after, Bryan EMS arrived and transported Crow to St. Joseph Hospital.
The reporting party, Charles Boggan, told dispatch that he had accidentally shot his roommate, Crow. Boggan told dispatch that he was checking his firearm to determine if it was unloaded when it discharged, striking Crow.
Officers recognized from the beginning of the investigation that alcohol was a contributing factor and documented multiple indicators of intoxication, including officers’ observations and Boggan’s own admission to consuming alcohol. Witnesses provided additional information indicating Boggan was intoxicated prior to the shooting, including drinking at an apartment complex before going to multiple bars. This investigation was not a DWI where a blood alcohol concentration is commonly used as evidence of intoxication.
Officers responded to the hospital to contact Crow who was undergoing treatment, and officers were unable to interview him directly. A physician assistant and a respiratory technician told an officer that Crow had made the following statements: “I don’t want him to go to jail”; “It was an accident”; “He didn’t mean to”; and “He is a good person”.
Based on Boggan’s statement to the detective and Crow’s statements as relayed by hospital staff, malicious intent was unfounded. However, the detective noted Boggan handled the firearm in an unsafe manner and alcohol appeared to have been a contributing factor.
Based on the information available at that time, Bryan Police did not make an immediate on-scene arrest. Boggan remained at the scene, cooperated with investigators, and was not believed to present an immediate threat to the public. Investigators recognized an unintentional shooting could still result in criminal liability and continued gathering evidence to determine the appropriate criminal offense.
Crow was later transferred by helicopter to a higher level of care at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The Bryan Police Department subsequently presented the case to the Brazos County District Attorney's Office for the charge of criminally negligent homicide. The evidence presented included information that Bryan Police believed demonstrated Boggan was intoxicated when he handled and discharged the firearm that killed Crow.
Texas Penal Code states:
“A person acts with criminal negligence, or is criminally negligent, with respect to circumstances surrounding his conduct or the result of his conduct when he ought to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the circumstances exist or the result will occur. The risk must be of such a nature and degree that the failure to perceive it constitutes a gross deviation from the standard of care that an ordinary person would exercise under all the circumstances as viewed from the actor's standpoint.”
Additionally, to address inaccurate information reported by Dolcefino Media, the Bryan Police Department states Lieutenant James Murphy and his wife are not related to the Boggan family. Any assertion or implication of a familial relationship is factually incorrect, unsupported, and inflammatory. The Department believes correcting this misinformation is important so the public has an accurate understanding of the facts surrounding this matter.
