Homeowner gets probation in death of feces-throwing teen

A Texas homeowner was spared jail despite admitting the manslaughter of a 13-year-old boy he chased down for flinging poop at his doorstep — a sentence the dead boy’s grieving mom slammed as “a slap on the wrist.”

Xavier Zarate had jumped in his Ford SUV in April 2022 to chase down teen Brett Cardenas and another pal, also 13, for flinging the disgusting package at his home in Austin.

When he caught up with them, Zarate leaped out of the vehicle and started punching one of the boys — without putting the SUV in park, leaving it to run over Cardenas, killing him.

Zarate pleaded guilty earlier this month to felony manslaughter and injury to a child as part of a deal that saw him sentenced Wednesday to 10 years of probation.

“It’s a soft plea deal,” Brett’s heartbroken mom, Donna Cardenas, told Fox 7 Austin. “There is no prison time. He walks away with a little slap on the wrist.”

Grieving dad Felix Cardenas said the family begrudgingly agreed to a plea deal to avoid the pain of a trial and the risk of Zarate being acquitted.

“In a better world, maybe when you lash out in anger and kill a 13-year-old boy, you need to be in jail,” the dad said.

“But the risk of getting less than what he got was still there. So we just wanted to get this over with.”

The prison-free sentence came after the teen’s loved ones gave harrowing impact statements about his loss.

“Do you have any idea what it feels like to want to hear someone’s voice so badly that the silence makes you want to scream?” said Brett’s 18-year-old sister, Kaylee Cardenas, addressing Zarate directly.

She later also called the sentence “just a slap on the wrist,” saying: “I’m feeling like justice wasn’t served whatsoever.”

Zarate apologized to the boy’s family, saying he was “so sorry for the loss of Brett Cardenas.”

“It was not out of malice, it was an accident, but it doesn’t matter,” he said.

“Brett is not with us today, and I bear some responsibility for that, and I take full responsibility for that judge and I will struggle with this for the rest of my life.”

Under the conditions of his release, Zarate will be required to complete 300 hours of community service, attend therapy and anger management sessions, and pay the Cardenas family $17,000 in restitution.

If Zarate violates any of those conditions, he could be sent to prison for 10 years.

Zarate’s defense attorney, Rick Flores, applauded the district attorney for “taking a long hard look at this case and seeing for what it is — a horrible, terrible, tragic accident,” he said in a statement to KXAN.

The Travis County District Attorney’s Office defended Zarate’s no-prison sentence, saying that it will ensure that he is “held accountable” and that “justice is served.”