Florida Teens Who Mocked Drowning Man In Disturbing Video Could Now Face Charges
A group of Florida teens who laughed and mocked as they filmed a video of a drowning man could now be going to jail for their actions.
The disturbing video went viral this week, showing the group laughing and taunting 32-year-old Jamel Dunn as he struggled in a pond in Cocoa, a coastal city near Orlando. The teens posted the video to social media, sparking an immediate backlash across the nation and calls for the teens to be charged.
As the Washington Post reported, local authorities had initially said there is no way they could charge the group, as it is not required to attempt to save a drowning person, but they have changed course and are now taking action against the teens. Henry Parrish III, the city’s mayor, said this week that police are seeking to charge the teens under a law that requires people who become aware of a death to report it to police.
Parrish also spoke out against the teens, who were ages 14 to 16.
“What we’ve all witnessed here does not represent the citizens of our community,” Parrish said in a statement.
“This is an isolated act of unspeakable inhumanity and in no way is a reflection of our community.”
The group of teens taunted the man as he flailed in the water, saying he should not have gotten in the water and warning that they were not going to help him. When they realized that the man was likely dying, one of the teens said to another, “Bro, you scared to see a dead person?”
Brevard County state attorney Phil Archer said his office acted after a nationwide outcry to hold the teens accountable for their cruel behavior. His office worked with police and came up with the statute requiring people to report a death when they are aware of it.
Authorities in Florida say a group of teens watched and laughed as a man drowned in a pond last week. #9News https://t.co/dtYCwlTxAJ
— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) July 22, 2017
Dunn had gotten into a fight with his fiancee shortly before walking into the pond. He was missing for three days before his fiancee filed a missing-person report on July 12. It would be two more days before police found his “badly decomposed” body in the pond after a family member identified Dunn from the video that had already started circulating online.
Dunn walked with the help of a cane, his sister told the New York Times. He had two children.
5 teens who taunted a drowning man while recording his death from afar may face criminal charges, police chief says https://t.co/efTfoF75Q2
— CNN (@CNN) July 21, 2017
If convicted, the Florida teens who filmed the drowning man will likely not face much jail time, but local lawmakers said they may draft new legislation that would be tougher on this kind of incident in the future.
[Featured Image by Dejan Kolar/iStock]
