A 15-year-old child, identified as John Sheeran, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon after trying to drown a Black teen in a Cape Cod water in Chatham, Massachusetts. The event, which occurred in July 2023, even involved Sheeran’s companion, who mocked the target and called him” George Floyd”, referencing the Black person whose 2020 death sparked worldwide protests.
The affair
Lawyers said that Sheeran, 14 at the time, threw stones at the 15-year-old target and forced him into the water on July 19, 2023. The victim was therefore racialized while using racist slurs while holding his head under.
They were smirking, they said.
The sufferer, who was wearing a life suit because he could not swim, told authorities:” When I finally got to them, they were smirking”. A witness corroborated this account, stating they saw Sheeran and his accomplice “pushing]the victim’s ] head underwater” as the victim “screamed for help”.
A beachgoer intervened and brought the girl back to shore when the girl yelled for assistance, according to a Cape Cod Times statement.
Sheeran’s companion mocks target
During the assault, Sheeran’s companion, another white girl, apparently laughed and called the target” George Floyd”. The cultural intentions behind the assault were highlighted by this guide to the murderer’s struggle to breathe.
The friend, who is facing intimidation costs, may be tried as a juvenile for laughing and mocking the target while he pleaded for his career.
Robert Galibois, the district attorney for the Cape and Islands, claims that the abuse was ethnically motivated.
Hearing in adolescent judge
At Barnstable Juvenile Court, Sheeran admitted to attempting to kill herself and injuring herself with a harmful tool. He was accused of being a “youthful offender,” which allows the prosecutor to declare him either a adolescent or an adult. His sentencing is scheduled for February 5, 2024. The possible punishment he might receive is still questionable.
