Five teenagers watched a man drown to his death as they did not do anything to help save the individual who was clearly in a dire situation. The teens recorded the time he was struggling until he can no longer be seen and it lasted for more than two minutes. They laughed at the victim as well as cursed at him but did not tell anybody about it.
The video was posted on social media, and many were outraged asking the teens to be charged. However, no law could criminally charge this group of teens. The teens are reportedly aged 14 to 16.
Teens mocked dying man
At some points in the video, the five teens chuckled and made comments like the man was “going to die” and that they will not do anything about it. They also said that the victim should not have gotten in the pond located in Cocoa, Florida. When the man was no longer seen floating, one teen commented, “he dead.”
Family frustrated that no one will be charged
The victim was identified as 31-year-old Jamel Dunn. His family filed a missing reported three days after he drowned as they had no knowledge of what happened to him. His body was found five days from when the video was taken, CNN reported.
The family of Dunn released a statement saying that they are frustrated because no one was charged.
The sister of the victim was the one who posted the video as she said that someone sent her the file. She made the video public via her Facebook page, The New York Times reported. The sister encouraged everyone to share the video, but the legal team representing the family asked the media to not share it in whole or in part.
Florida has no law that orders a citizen to help someone in distress. Cocoa Police Department spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez said in a statement that if there was a law of such nature, the teens would have been immediately charged.
Dunn’s sister stated that she believes there should have been something done to the teens because if they can sit there and do nothing to help someone desperately in need at a very young age, she questioned what they could do when they get older.
Martinez echoed Dunn’s sister saying that she has been doing her job for 20 years now and this is the worst she has seen because the kids lacked “any kind of moral conscience to call for help.” One of the teens did suggest they call the cops, but his idea got firmly rejected.
Teens not sorry for not alerting authorities
According to the investigators, they interviewed the teens, and they showed no remorse for what they did. One of the teens reportedly expressed that he did not feel sorry, but investigators did not quote his exact words. The teens also admitted that they were in the area to smoke weed.
Victim argued with mother, fiancée before drowning
Before Dunn drowned, he got into a verbal argument with his mother and his fiancée. The unidentified fiancée left home at around 12:40 p.m. and Dunn went near the lake 10 Minutes after. He reportedly struggled for more than 10 minutes before he died.
