Houston traffic rage: Bayron Rivera sentenced to 20 years in prison for setting off fireworks and injuring two toddlers and a father

HARRIS COUNTY, TX (KTRK) — A 21-year-old man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a 2019 traffic shooting that started a fire that burned two children and their father.

The video above is from a previous report.

Bayron Rivera’s sentencing came Tuesday, the Harris County Attorney’s Office confirmed.

He was on trial over the shooting, which set off fireworks in the family’s truck. The fiery crash occurred on July 4, 2019 in northwest Harris County. Bentley and Messiah Smith, then aged 1 and 2, and their father, Reginald Smith, suffered severe burns. Rivera was 18 at the time.

The boys were in their car seats and riding in their truck with their mother and father when investigators said Rivera fired shots from a semi-automatic rifle into their vehicle. The shots set off fireworks in the family’s vehicle.

According to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, the incident was a result of road rage.

By the time the trial began, the children are said to have made a remarkable physical recovery.

SEE ALSO:

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The suspect who shot a car carrying a family of four and set off fireworks is surrendering, the sheriff says

Boys burned to death in a road rage since July 4, 2019 are still recovering as the process unfolds

A Harris County jury is deciding the fate of a man accused of the 2019 traffic shooting that injured two young children