Florida police say teens aged 15 and 16 hid friend’s body after accidental shooting

According to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, two teenagers are accused of improperly disposing of a body after accidentally shooting an acquaintance.

The suspects, aged 15 and 16, were arrested on January 20 along with an adult who witnessed the incident, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

Investigators say the suspects are linked to the murder of Jonte Solomon Heywood, who was 15, according to his obituary.

He was reported missing on December 16 and his body was found later that day in Bushnell, 55 miles west of Orlando, officials said.

“Investigators were able to identify the perpetrators … who were carelessly handling firearms in the presence of Jontae Heywood when the firearm fired, killing him,” the sheriff’s office said.

“People then moved the body of the victim and hid it to prevent detection. The investigation also revealed that an adult was present at the time of the incident and made no attempt to intervene to prevent the death of Jontae Haywood.”

The teenagers were “charged with aggravated manslaughter, improper disposal of human remains/biological materials, possession of a firearm by a person under the age of 18, and failure to report the death to a medical examiner,” officials said.

A 70-year-old man “was arrested and charged with one count of neglecting a child causing grievous bodily harm, three counts of assisting in the delinquency of a minor, one count of possession of marijuana less than 20 grams, and two counts of possession of narcotic drugs “, the police said.

Jontae was an eighth grade student at Sumter PREP Academy in Wildwood and, according to an obituary in the Sumter Sun Times, dreamed of “becoming a professional rapper”.

Investigators did not provide details about the gun and how the teenagers acquired it.

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