John Sheeran, the 15-year-old white youth who tried to drown a black teen in a Cape Cod pond whereas a good friend labeled the sufferer “George Floyd,” entered a responsible plea to the crime, The New York Submit reported.
Sheeran pleaded responsible to tried homicide and assault with a harmful weapon fees at Barnstable Juvenile Court docket in Massachusetts after a choose determined to attempt him as an grownup. The choose charged the alleged confederate with harassment for laughing and jeering on the sufferer whereas he begged for his life, however might be charged as a juvenile.
The crime happened at a pond in Chatham, Massachusetts, in July 2023 when Sheeran allegedly saved dunking the Black teen underneath the water, whereas the heckler laughed and referred to as him “George Floyd,” because the sufferer saved saying he couldn’t breathe. The unidentified Black teen claims he constantly informed the then 14-year-old, who was throwing rocks at him, and his good friend that he couldn’t swim and wanted to put on a life jacket however was pulled underwater 4 or 5 instances.
The accuser alleges Sheeran referred to as him the n-word, whereas the good friend “began laughing and referred to as me George Floyd, clearly making enjoyable of me and exhibiting no regret.”
A witness informed police he heard the sufferer telling Sheeran “to please not splash or push him due to his incapability to swim,” however the pair saved “pushing [the victim’s] head underwater” whereas he was “screaming for assist. “Once I lastly bought to them, they have been smirking,” the witness, additionally a minor, stated in an announcement.
In 2023, when Sheeran was indicted by a Barnstable County grand jury and ordered to be held with out bail, his lawyer stated the costs have been “excessive” and labeled the crimes a traditional case of “boys being boys,” calling it “horseplay” between youngsters that “bought uncontrolled.”
In response to The Cape Cod Occasions, the names of the juveniles accused weren’t launched, however as a result of severity of the costs, the case is public based mostly on Sheeran’s standing as a “youthful offender” and might be tried in juvenile courtroom.
Whereas showing in courtroom, Sheeran’s lawyer says his consumer “had completely no intent to homicide his good friend.”
On the time of the incident, the information shook the Chatham group, inflicting the city’s choose board and the Monomoy Regional Faculty District to launch an announcement denouncing the crime and reinforcing their stand for variety and inclusion.
“We’re disturbed and saddened to be taught of the occasion that occurred earlier this summer time between juveniles,” the choose board stated in an announcement.
“We don’t consider that it displays the true nature of our group, which is various and inclusive. We condemn all acts of violence, notably these directed at kids.”
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 15, 2025.
RELATED CONTENT: Dentist Sentenced To fifteen Years In Jail For Stealing Sufferers’ Ache Meds Throughout Surgical procedure