17-year-old faces murder charge in killing of man in park
BOYNTON BEACH — A 17-year-old Riviera Beach resident faces a first-degree murder charge after Sunday’s killing in Caloosa Park, Boynton Beach police said Tuesday morning.
Stephen Thal was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals South Florida Regional Task Force during a traffic stop Monday night in West Palm Beach. He is accused of killing Desean Menelas, 20, of Boynton Beach in what police are saying was a drug deal gone bad.
The Palm Beach Post is identifying Thal because the State Attorney’s Office confirmed Tuesday that he will be charged as an adult. First-degree murder cases are automatically prosecuted in the adult court, state attorney spokesman Mike Edmondson said. Because it is a first-degree murder case, the charge will have to presented to a grand jury.
The slaying was the eighth confirmed homicide in Boynton Beach POSTNOW
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this year and the 90th in Palm Beach County, according to a Palm Beach Post online database. In 2016, there were three in Boynton Beach and 87 in the county. Thal also is one of three juveniles to face first-degree murder charges in Palm Beach County this year.
Authorities say about eight shots were fired shortly after 8 p.m. Sunday at the park, off Congress Avenue south of Woolbright Road, with at least one shot striking Menelas in the back. About 50 people ran from the basketball courts after the shooting. Menelas was taken to Delray Medical Center, where he died.
Witnesses told police that two people were involved in the shooting. Boynton Beach police spokeswoman Stephanie Slater said Tuesday that investigators are working to identify the second suspect.
One witness told police investigators Menelas intended to sell marijuana to the suspects, sending them a text message with the park’s address. Menelas was suspicious about meeting the suspects in the park’s parking lot because he feared he might be robbed, the witness told police.
While conducting the drug
transaction at the southeast end of the basketball courts, the 17-year-old suspect pulled out a black semi-automatic handgun and pointed it at Menalas, the witness said. The witness reported hear- ing multiple gunshots. At the scene, officers recovered a total of nine spent shell casings from two different guns, one a .45-caliber firearm and the other 9 mm, the report said. Officers reportedly recovered Menelas’ cell- phone and found communications between Menalas and the suspects.
A search led investiga- tors to the Thal’s Facebook page, the report said. The page included a video of the teen holding a large-caliber firearm and pictures of him with large sums of money and marijuana, police said. Thal was taken into cus- tody Monday after a stop on the 1000 block of 45th Street in West Palm Beach, near St. Mary’s Medical Center, Boynton Beach police said. At 17 years and seven months old, Thal is the second-youngest suspect in Palm Beach County to face a murder charge this year.
In September, 16-yearold Summer Church was one of three people charged with first-degree murder in the July 3 shooting death of mixed martial arts fighter Aaron Rajman. Two 18-yearold men — Roberto Ortiz and Jace Swinton — were also charged in that case.
In May, Steny Louis, then 17 years and nine months, was charged in the fatal shooting of Einstein Mondesir on April 29 in Delray Beach. Louis turned 18 in July.