A teenager from Florida fatally shot another teenager because he feared he would be considered gay, Daytona Beach police said.
Jakari Webb, 19, was arrested Wednesday in connection with the shooting of 19-year-old Telan Mann in the early morning hours of June 23, police said.
Officers arrived after hearing shots while patrolling the area and found Mann on the sidewalk “in a pool of blood and with multiple gunshot wounds on his body,” police said.
They had spoken to each other on social media since February and planned to meet for the first time on June 23, just a few blocks from Mann’s house, according to police. Police said it was during that first meeting that Webb shot Mann.
“There were some concerns that Telan either had or was about to post something on social media like a suspect disclosure,” Daytona Beach Police Chief Jakari Young said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Following Webb’s arrest, the Mann family issued a statement thanking the police for “hard work and dedication” to the case, adding that they now have a sense of “peace” and “can put our beloved Telan to rest.”
Webb is being held without bond at Volusia County Jail. He charges him on three counts, including first-degree murder, resisting the officer and violating the probation measures.
Asked Friday if a hate crime charge could be brought, Bryan Shorstein, executive director of the Florida District 7 State Attorney’s Office, said his office would “review additional charges.”
“At this point, anything is possible,” he said.
Follow NBC Out on Twitter, Facebook, and Booster; Instagram
Jay Valle, a member of the NBCU Academy, writes and produces digital content for NBC Out.
