An 18-year-old Ozark man is dead after a stranger allegedly shot him earlier this week in Texas, according to law enforcement officials.

Justin Ray Cross was at a home May 13 in Tyler, Texas, when he was shot, according to a press release from the Smith County (Texas) Sheriff's Office.

About 9 p.m. Monday, deputies were dispatched to a "deadly conduct" call and found Cross suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Deputies performed first aid on Cross until emergency services arrived. Cross was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The suspect, 63-year-old Robert Melvin Galbraith, had fled the scene by the time law enforcement officials arrived, the press release said. Deputies established a perimeter and began searching for Galbraith.

A canine with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Institutional Division located Gailbraith May 14 in a wooded area near his residence. He was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, the press release stated.

According to Cross' obituary published in the News-Leader, he was born April 9, 2001, in Gillette, Wyoming. He attended school in Oklahoma and 11th grade at Harmony School District in Big Sandy, Texas, where he played football, baseball, soccer and basketball. Cross was enrolled at Ozark High School from August 2018 to March 1, said Director of Communications Casey Owens.

"Justin had been 'all boy' even as a toddler, enjoying life and going 'full blast' throughout each day," the obituary stated. "Justin was tenderhearted and hilariously funny, with a charisma that naturally drew others to him."

His death was a "result of senseless violence at the hands of another," his obituary stated.



Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Friday, May 17, at Adams Funeral Home in Nixa, with Rabbi Yochanan Eukel officiating. Burial will follow in Hazelwood Cemetery in Springfield.

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