Police make arrest in death of North Miami High School football player
The quarterback of the North Miami High School football team was shot to death on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Miami-Dade police announced an arrest.
Here’s what to know:
WHO WAS ARRESTED?
A 15-year-old has been arrested.
THE CHARGES
The Miami Gardens teenager was arrested on charges of manslaughter, possession of a firearm by a minor and for improperly exhibiting a firearm, Miami-Dade police announced Wednesday morning. He was taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center.
The Miami Herald is not naming the teen because he’s a minor and it’s not clear if he will be charged as an adult for the killing of 17-year-old Mekhi Stevenson, a junior and football player at North Miami High.
THE SHOOTING
The shooting happened around 1 p.m. Tuesday inside a home in the area of 160 Sierra Dr., where Stevenson and his brother were inside a bedroom with four friends, MiamiDade police said.
The arrested teen took out a semi-automatic gun and started pointing it at others in the room and at the walls, according to his arrest affidavit. He also removed and reinserted the magazine into the gun.
Stevenson’s younger
brother looked at the gun, told the 15-year-old it was loaded and asked him to “stop playing around with the firearm and put it away,” the affidavit states.
The 15-year-old teen “pulled the slide back partially to check and then stated that it wasn’t loaded because it didn’t eject a cartridge,” according to the affidavit. He continued to wave the gun around recklessly, pointed it at Stevenson “and intentionally pulled the trigger once,” police wrote in the affidavit.
After being shot in the chest, Stevenson ran to another room, collapsed and died, police said.