A 12-year-old South Texas boy has been charged with capital murder in connection with the shooting death of a professional boxer this week.

Police in Uvalde, about 80 miles west of San Antonio, were dispatched to a home in the 600 block of Boone Street just before 8 p.m. Wednesday. The couple living at the home had heard someone trying to kick in their door, the Uvalde Leader-News reported, and 24-year-old John Duane VanMeter went to see what was going on.

His girlfriend, who stayed in the bedroom, called 911 when she heard a gunshot.

When police arrived, they found VanMeter lying on the floor near the front door, with a single gunshot wound to his head. He was rushed to Uvalde Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:43 p.m., police said.

Two children home at the time of the shooting were uninjured.

Witnesses told officers that a male dressed in all black, with a black bandanna over his face, was seen running from the home.

Police announced Thursday morning that a 12-year-old suspect had been taken into custody on a charge of capital murder. The boy, whose name was not released due to his age, was being held at a juvenile detention facility.

Because of the child's age, the maximum sentence he would face if convicted is 40 years in prison.

VanMeter, who had the nickname "The California Kid," had been boxing since he was 10, according to the Leader-News, and had been boxing professionally since 2015.

The Tree City Boxing Club said in a Facebook post that the group was "at a loss for words."

"It's a sad sad night, not just for Tree City Boxing, but for our entire community," the post said.