An Indiana teenager faces murder charges after accidentally killing his best friend with a gun. At first, the boy was only facing a reckless homicide charge.
Then, the Lake County Prosecutor's Office upgraded the charges to murder. Now, parents are questioning this decision of authorities.
Indiana: Parents Criticize Decision to Charge Teen With Murder
According to NBC Chicago's latest report, Denver Johnson was a close friend of the 16-year-old victim, Jason Paholik Jr. Jason's family even said that the two boys were best friends. Unfortunately, a tragedy happened on May 27. While enjoying a bonfire in Crown Point, Denver decided to get a gun and jokingly point it at Jason.
However, he wasn't expecting the weapon to fire at his best friend. A few moments later, the gun was triggered, and the bullet hit Jason's chest. This led to serious injuries, which later killed Jason. Based on court documents, 18-year-old Denver said his firearm wasn't loaded at all.
Because of this, he was charged with reckless homicide. But, the Lake County Prosecutor's Office changed the criminal charges to murder.
"Everything states it was an accident. There was no anger. They had not been arguing," said the suspect's mother, Amanda Eby.
Even the victim's mother, Jennifer Paholic, said that the incident was irresponsible, but it wasn't a murder case.
"I know that Denver didn't do this on purpose, and he shouldn't be charged with murder," said Jennifer via UNILAD.
The victim's mother further stated that Jason and Denver were best friends. She added that Denver deserves to serve time for killing her son, but not in the way the county office intends.
"He needs help emotionally. Otherwise, they are going to create a monster, and my son would never want to see that happen," explained Jennifer.
More Teens and Younger Americans Die Because of Guns
Recently, the Pew Research Center released a study revealing that gun-related deaths among teenagers and other younger Americans increased between 2019 and 2021. Specifically, Pew experts discovered that the United States experienced around a 50% increase in gun-related deaths among young residents.
In 2021, deaths caused by firearms include homicides, suicides, accidental shootings, etc. Based on their findings, accidental gun shootings account for around 34% of gun-related deaths among five years old and below.
Aside from this, Pew's researchers also revealed that young boys are more at risk of gun deaths, with males accounting for 83% of all gun deaths in 2021.
