The death of 19-year-old Blinn College student Lacie LaRose at a graduation party last month was the result of an argument that began over a game of beer pong, a witness told The Eagle.

The two-bedroom home in the 900 block of San Benito Drive now sits unoccupied. The backyard where LaRose was shot, along with two others who received minor injuries, shows no signs of a party, let alone that a young woman was gunned down there. The residential neighborhood less than a mile from A&M Consolidated High School was quiet Tuesday afternoon, the one-month anniversary of the shooting that police said remains under investigation.

On the night of the shooting, there were between 100 and 120 people at the graduation party where a pay-per-view boxing match drew a crowd that included neighbor Ronald Wayne McNeil, 39.

Landon Duke, the 23-year-old guest of honor at the May 2 party, said McNeil lived across the street and came to the party with two friends. Duke, who was celebrating his pending graduation from Texas A&M on May 17, had never met or interacted with McNeil, a convicted felon.

Earlier that day, Duke and the party’s host had gone door-to-door telling neighbors about the party and asking them to contact either of them before calling police to file a noise complaint. Duke said he and his friend never invited anyone to the party, which is why he thought it was odd to see McNeil and his friends at the party.

“It was a little strange that they were at the party but they were really nice, at first, congratulating me on graduating,” Duke said.

During the televised boxing match, Duke said McNeil started to get verbally upset about the partygoers not cheering for Floyd Mayweather. Duke described it as a small disturbance that wasn’t a big deal.

Police were called to the house for a noise complaint at some point after midnight, according to a police report.

By 1 a.m. Sunday, the party died down to about 20 or 30 people, witnesses said. McNeil and his friends were hanging around, playing beer pong in the garage with some of the college-aged guests.

One of McNeil’s friends got into an argument with one of Duke’s friends over the rules for beer pong, Duke said. The verbal exchange became more heated and McNeil and his friends were asked to leave, according to Duke, who said he had stood up to join his friends in escorting the men out.

Duke said he threw a punch that knocked one of McNeil’s friends on the ground; the man got up and left with his friends. Duke said some other people threw punches in the altercation, but that the fight was over pretty quickly. Duke did not name who the other people in the argument were.

Accounts from the police report and Duke vary as to what was said as McNeil and his friends backed down the driveway.

Investigators wrote in court documents that McNeil told authorities some of the other people at the party were yelling racial slurs and beating up his friend. Duke said he heard McNell yell that he was going to get his gun, but didn’t recall anyone yelling racial slurs. McNeil and his friends are black; Duke and most of his friends at the party are white.

“We’re a bunch of college kids. We didn’t think anything was really going to happen. Just to be safe, we closed the garage door anyway,” Duke said in a recent phone interview.

Read More

An argument between a neighbor and partygoers at a residence in south College Station early Sunday escalated into a shooting that took the life of a 19-year-old woman and left two men injured.

College Station police weren’t releasing many details Sunday afternoon, more than 12 hours after Lacie LaRose of Irving was shot at a home in the 900 block of San Benito Drive — about a mile southeast of A&M Consolidated High School.

According to a police statement, investigators believe Ronald Wayne McNeil, 39, of College Station and some friends went to a party at a neighbor’s home when an argument began. Police said the argument became physical and, about 3:06 a.m., McNeil pulled out a handgun and started shooting into a group at the party.

Assistant Police Chief Chuck Fleeger declined to comment on where in the home the shooting took place, as well as what type of handgun was used.

“Because of the evidential nature of these details, I cannot comment at this time because of the ongoing investigation,” Fleeger said.

Jacee Wren, a friend of LaRose’s who was not at the party but had spoken to the host, said there was a graduation party going on Saturday night and some of her friends were going to watch the Floyd Mayweather/Manny Pacquiao boxing match at the house on San Benito Drive. Wren was told by the host that his neighbor, McNeil, and his friends were asked to leave after some rude comments. According to the host, the men left after a brief physical altercation and the party continued.

Wren said it was hours later that McNeil returned, pushing through some people in the backyard, walking through the back door and firing 15 times into a crowd of people in the house; LaRose was the first one to be shot, according to what the host told Wren.

“Thank God he wasn’t a better shot. Who knows how many victims there could have been,” Wren said.