San Angelo Addict Sentenced to Prison After Toddler Gets Shot with .45

SAN ANGELO, TX – A San Angelo man will be facing the next five years in prison after a child got ahold of his gun and shot himself with it.

As previously reported, on Aug. 24, 2019, officers with the San Angelo Police Department received a call about a gunshot wound to a child. SAPD detectives went to Shannon Medical Center and interviewed the child's mother and two other children. Following the interviews, detectives conducted a consensual search at a residence on N. Schroeder St. The child's mother informed police that she had seen Juan Mata Jr., 30, with a black handled firearm. She also told police that she had not seen what happened, but had been outside when she heard the gunshot.

Officers learned through interviewing the children that Mata had fallen asleep on the couch when one child removed the gun from his waistband. When the child moved the gun it went off striking the child in the forehead. The defendant slept through the gunshot and was awakened by one of the children. Mata then stood up, tripped, and the gun fell on the floor. He then picked it up and ran out of the house.

Police located a .45 caliber casing in the living room on the love seat and the bullet in the wall of the living room. According to an affidavit the bullet was a full metal jacket and had little to no deformation. Detectives then contacted Mata and asked to meet to discuss the investigation. Mata refused to cooperate with the investigation.

According to court documents, on Apr. 8, Juan Mata Jr. took a plea deal that will send him to prison for the next five years. Mata pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence with intent to impair and criminal negligence by endangering a child. 

Mata was sentenced to five years for the tampering charge and 600 days for the criminal negligence charge. These sentences will run concurrently.

Mata is currently in federal custody at FCI Beaumont after he was charged with a federal crime due to the incident. Public Records confirms that Mata was sentenced to 51 months for possession of a firearm by an addict or unlawful user of a controlled substance.

This indictment stated that Mata was currently addicted to or used methamphetamine while being in possession of a .45 caliber HS products (Springfield Armory) pistol, Model XDS, with several rounds of full metal jacket bullets.