‘A party that got out of hand.’ 20-year-old Lakeway man killed in lake house party brawl
A 20-year-old Lakeway man has died after a brawl this month at a lake house party in Llano County involving about 30 teens and young adults from across the region, including some from Austin, Llano County Sheriff Bill Blackburn said.
David Michael Justus, a 2023 Lake Travis High School graduate, died July 23 at a hospital in Temple, “from numerous traumatic injuries sustained during a senseless and brutal assault on him at a Kingsland property,” his obituary said.
Blackburn said Ryan Moore and Francisco Reyes, both 19, have been arrested and charged with manslaughter in Justus’ death. Police are looking for a third man who has been issued an arrest warrant on a similar charge.
“There are probably going to be more arrests,” Blackburn said. “It was a party that got out of hand.”
He said the brawl happened July 14, when a group of about 25 to 30 teens and young adults arrived at a home on Mesquite Drive in Kingsland for a party. The Austin homeowner, whom he did not identify, believed that only about a handful of people would be at the home with his son, the sheriff said.
He said the brawl started after one group threw a beer can at another. A cellphone video reviewed by the American-Statesman shows multiple men piling on top of Justus.
“It looks like (Justus) got hit and knocked down and hit his head on a piece of concrete,” Blackburn said. “It is definitely a tragedy.”
Justus attended Lake Travis schools from elementary school through high school, graduating from Lake Travis High School in 2023, according to his obituary. At the time of his death, Justus was an Austin Community College student and had finished his first year in May.
His parents memorialized his “larger than life personality” and “magical magnitude” that extended to his insatiable love of learning and his fierce love for his family, friends and girlfriend, Saylor Davis, for whom he “would have done anything,” his obituary said. They believed if his life had not been cut short, Justus would have “(done) amazing things and lived an extraordinary life.”
A lover of sports, he was involved with the Lake Travis Youth Association, playing basketball, football, soccer and baseball.
He is survived by his parents, Dave and Daya Justus of Lakeway; his younger brother, Dawson Justus, also of Lakeway; as well as his girlfriend, Saylor Davis.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Llano County lake house party brawl kills 20-year-old Lakeway man
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